HP earnings top experts’ expectations

Hewlett-Packard Co. beat Wall Street’s expectations Wednesday, when the computer maker reported that fiscal third-quarter profit surged on strong printer and laptop sales. The company’s shares gained nearly 6 percent in after-hours trading.

For the three months ended July 31, HP earned $1.38 billion, or 48 cents a share, compared with $73 million, or 3 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

The year-ago numbers were dramatically lower because of a tax charge that resulted when the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company pulled $14.5 billion from foreign earnings and “repatriated,” or reinvested, those profits in the United States.

Sales in the fiscal third quarter rose 5 percent to $21.89 billion from $20.76 billion last year. If not for currency fluctuations, sales would have increased 6 percent.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned $1.48 billion, or 52 cents per share, up nearly 40 percent from the same quarter last year.

“Attorneys representing newsroom employees at the Santa Barbara News-Press accused the newspaper’s management of coercive and intimidating tactics in an unfair labor practice charge filed with federal regulators.

Tuesday’s filing came several days after the employees signaled their desire to unionize. It also marked the latest public battle between newspaper employees and owner Wendy McCaw following the resignation last month of several top editors who claimed McCaw meddled with editorial content. In all, 14 employees have left the newspaper.

The formal charges filed against the News-Press include allegations of changing reporters’ beat assignments without properly notifying them; revising an internal policy so employees couldn’t speak publicly about work; and intimidating a reporter who became a leader in the unionizing effort with a disciplinary interview.

“Two of the largest institutional investors in General Motors Corp. have sold big blocks of the company’s stock, but others have increased their holdings, according to regulatory filings.

Capital Research & Management Co., a Los Angeles-based investment firm that is GM’s second-largest investor, sold 19.2 million shares, or 24 percent of its holdings in the company, according to second-quarter reports filed earlier this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company’s third-largest investor, Brandes Investment Partners LP of San Diego, sold 2.4 million shares, or 4 percent of its holdings.