HPE Releases Financial Results for Q2 FY2022

Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced financial results for the second quarter, ended April 30, 2022.

“Persistent demand led to another quarter of significant order growth and higher revenue for HPE, underscoring  the accelerating interest customers have in our unique edge-to-cloud portfolio and our HPE GreenLake platform,”  said Antonio Neri, president, and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “I am optimistic that demand will continue to  be strong, given our customers’ needs to accelerate their business resilience and competitiveness. We remain focused on innovating for our customers and on executing with discipline so that we translate that demand into  profitable growth for HPE.” 

“We are particularly pleased with the resiliency of our gross margins despite the inflationary environment and ongoing supply chain disruptions,” said Tarek Robbiati, EVP and CFO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “With record levels of high-quality backlog, we are well positioned for growth in FY22 and beyond, and confident in realizing the financial commitments we set at our Securities Analyst Meeting last October.” 

Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2022 Results  

Net revenue of $6.7 billion, up 0.2% and 1.5% adjusted for currency from the prior-year period and in line with outlook. 

Annualized revenue run-rate (“ARR”) of $829 million, up 25% from the prior-year period and total as-a-Service orders were up 107% from the prior-year period, marking the third consecutive quarter of orders doubling. We remain confident in delivering our 2021 Securities Analyst Meeting ARR guidance of 35%-45% Compounded Annual Growth Rate from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2024. 

GAAP gross margin of 32.4%, down 170 basis points from the prior-year period, primarily due to $105 million of Russia-related charges, and non-GAAP gross margin of 34.2%, down 10 basis points from the prior-year period,  driven by disciplined execution and pricing actions. 

GAAP diluted net EPS was $0.19, flat from the prior-year period and in line with our previously provided outlook of $0.18 to $0.26 per share. 

HPE announced in February that we stopped all shipments to and sales in Russia and Belarus. During the second quarter of 2022, we recorded total charges of $126 million related to the Russia conflict’s impact on our business.  Based on further assessment of business risks and needs, we have determined that it is no longer tenable to maintain operations in Russia and Belarus and are proceeding with an orderly, managed exit of our remaining business in these countries. We expect to record additional charges in the third quarter of fiscal 2022 related to our decision to exit Russia and Belarus, but do not expect these charges to be material. 

Non-GAAP diluted net EPS was $0.44, compared to $0.46 in the prior-year period and near the midpoint of our outlook range of $0.41 to $0.49 per share. Second quarter non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted net EPS exclude after-tax adjustments of $333 million and $0.25 per diluted share, respectively, primarily for Russia related disaster charges, stock-based compensation expense, transformation costs, and the amortization of intangible assets.  

Cash flow from operations of $379 million, down $443 million from the prior-year period. 

Free cash flow of ($211) million, down $579 million from the prior-year period reflecting normal seasonality and strategic working capital actions due to strong customer demand. 

Capital returns to shareholders of $214 million in the form of share repurchases and dividends.

Segment Results

• Intelligent Edge revenue was $867 million, up 8% from the prior-year period in actual dollars and 9% when  adjusted for currency, with 12.6% operating profit margin, compared to 15.7% in the prior-year period. Aruba  Services revenue was up double-digits from the prior-year period and Intelligent Edge as-a-Service ARR⁽⁴⁾ was up 50%+ from the prior-year period. 
• High Performance Computing & Artificial Intelligence (“HPC & AI”) revenue was $710 million, up 4% from the  prior-year period in actual dollars and 5% when adjusted for currency, with (5.6%) operating profit margin,  compared to 2.6% from the prior-year period. The operating loss was driven by supply constraints and delayed  customer acceptances. We remain on track to exceed the expected 11% market CAGR from FY21-24. 
• Compute revenue was $3.0 billion, flat from the prior-year period in actual dollars and up 1% when adjusted  for currency, with 13.9% operating profit margin, compared to 11.2% from the prior-year period. Margin  expansion was driven by strategic pricing actions more than offsetting input cost increases. 
• Storage revenue was $1.1 billion, down 3% from the prior-year period in actual dollars and 2% when adjusted  for currency, with 12.6% operating profit margin, compared to 16.8% from the prior-year period reflecting  higher supply chain costs and unfavorable mix shift. 
• Financial Services revenue was $823 million, down 2% from the prior-year period in actual dollars and flat  when adjusted for currency, with 12.6% operating profit margin, compared to 10.8% from the prior-year  period. Net portfolio assets of approximately $12.6 billion, down 4% from the prior-year period or up 1% when  adjusted for currency. The business delivered return on equity of 20.4%, up 2.1 points from the prior-year  period, well above pre-pandemic levels. 

Dividend 

Board of Directors has declared a regular cash dividend of $0.12 per share on the company’s common stock,  payable on July 8, 2022, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on June 13, 2022.  

Fiscal 2022 third quarter outlook: 

Hewlett Packard Enterprise estimates GAAP diluted net EPS to be in the range of $0.22 to $0.32 and non-GAAP  diluted net EPS to be in the range of $0.44 to $0.54. Fiscal 2022 third quarter non-GAAP diluted net EPS estimates  exclude after-tax adjustments of approximately $0.22 per diluted share, primarily related to, transformation costs,  stock-based compensation expense and the amortization of intangible assets. 

Fiscal 2022 outlook: 

Hewlett Packard Enterprise updates GAAP diluted net EPS outlook of $1.17 - $1.31 and full-year FY22 non-GAAP  diluted net EPS outlook to the original outlook provided at our 2021 Securities Analyst Meeting of $1.96 to $2.10.  Fiscal 2022 non-GAAP diluted net EPS estimates exclude after-tax adjustments of approximately $0.79 per diluted  share, reflecting charges related to Russia and Belarus, transformation costs, stock-based compensation expense  and the amortization of intangible assets.