Hewlett-Packard To Hit Upper End Of Forecasts, Analysts SayHewlett-Packard To Hit Upper End Of Forecasts, Analysts Say

As Hewlett-Packard prepares to release its quarterly financials tomorrow, three prominent financial analysts have raised their expectations for HP's quarterly revenue and also raised their target prices for HP shares. Since HP is now the world's largest IT company, the tenor of its results will resonate across the industry.Tech Trader Daily offers a roundup of the Street's expectations for HP's results:

--Bank of America/Merrill Lynch analyst Scott Craig: raised target price for HP shares to $52 from $45 and projects HP will hit high end of revenue guidance with $27.2 billion for the quarter. Craig sees some "stabilization in end-user demand, particularly in the U.S."

--Bernstein analyst Tony Sacconaghi: hiked his target price to $54 from $47, and says that while HP's just-ended third-quarter revenue will beat revenue guidance "modestly" (he projects $27.34 billion), going forward he expects HP's upcoming fourth-quarter guidance could be "handily above consensus."

--UBS analyst Maynard Um: joining the other two analysts in pushing HP's target share aggressively upward to $52 from $42, Um is calling for Q3 revenue to come in at $27.2 billion, with perhaps some Q4 improvement because of "recent signs of stabilization, ongoing benefits from cost-cutting initiatives and management's historical record of solid execution."

And I'll offer one bit of untraditional fortune-telling into the mix by noting that Hewlett-Packard superstar CIO Randy Mott recently recruited another high-profile global CIO, Wal-Mart's Linda Dillman, to come join the HP team as senior VP of global IT.

It's hard to imagine an executive of Mott's experience and abilities - not to mention his record of achievement as a demanding financial manager - would bring aboard a world-class talent like Dillman if the company were not hitting its financial targets.

Here's how Mott described Dillman, a Wal-Mart executive vice -president and former CIO, earlier this month in announcing her hiring:

"Linda is an exceptional leader who makes a great addition to the global IT team for HP," said Mott in the company statement. "She has broad IT and business experience, from integrations related to acquisitions to aligning global applications development to business priorities, and a passion for serving customers."

Dillman will lead HP's teams responsible for the company's outsourcing services business and a newly created group supporting global functions such as corporate administration and shared services, finance, global real estate, and human resources, the company said.