Big move should pay off

Article Excerpt

HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. $25 (New York symbol HPQ; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 2.1 billion; Market cap: $52.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.hp.com) dropped sharply last month, after it announced a major transformation. Its plans include selling or spinning off its personal computer operations, which supply 30% of its revenue. Computer sales will probably continue to suffer as more people use smartphones and tablet devices to access the Internet. Meanwhile, intense competition is hurting this division’s profit margins. However, Hewlett will hang on to its highly profitable printing operations. The company also wants to sell more computer services and software to business clients. That’s why it is paying $10 billion for U.K.-based Autonomy Corp., which makes software that helps businesses organize emails, web pages and company documents. Hewlett’s shares could stay weak during this process. But Hewlett could ultimately achieve major gains like those IBM enjoyed after it shifted from manufacturing to computer…