Hewlett Packard Enterprise has announced financial results for the first quarter, ended January 31, 2021.

Q1 2021 Financial Highlights:

• Revenue: $6.8 billion exceeded Q1 outlook with stronger than normal sequential seasonality
  • Supercomputers revenue was $762 million, down 9% year over year, with a 5.6% operating profit margin, compared to 7.5% from the prior-year period
  • Intelligent Edge revenue: $806 million, up 11% from the prior-year period when adjusted for currency
  • Annualized revenue run-rate (ARR): $649 million, up 27% from the prior-year period
  • Core businesses delivered strong profitability and cash flow
• Diluted net earnings per share (“EPS”):
  • GAAP of $0.17, above the previously provided outlook of $0.02 to $0.06 per share
  • Non-GAAP of $0.52, above the previously provided outlook of $0.40 to $0.44 per share
• Cash flow from operations of approximately $1.0 billion, up $1.0 billion from the prior-year period
• Generated record free cash flow of $563 million, up $748 million from the prior-year period

Dividend: declared a regular cash dividend of $0.12 per share, payable on April 7, 2021

Outlook:

• Fiscal 2021 Second quarter: Estimates GAAP diluted net EPS to be in the range of $0.02 to $0.08 and non-GAAP diluted net EPS to be in the range of $0.38 to $0.44
• Fiscal 2021: Raises GAAP diluted net EPS outlook to $0.48 to $0.66 and non-GAAP diluted net EPS outlook to $1.70 to $1.88
• Fiscal 2021 free cash flow: Raises free cash flow guidance to $1.1 to $1.4 billion

“We delivered a strong Q1 performance,” said Antonio Neri, president, and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “Our revenue exceeded our outlook and we significantly expanded our gross and operating margins to drive strong profitability across most of our businesses. Our non-GAAP EPS exceeded the high-end of our guidance and free cash flow was a record Q1 performance. These results give us the confidence to raise our FY21 outlook.”

“The global pandemic has brought a renewed focus on digital transformation as businesses are rethinking everything from remote work and collaboration to business continuity and data insight,“ he continued. “As the world heads to recovery, our customers are looking for the agility and simplicity of the cloud-native world with the flexibility and control of a hybrid business model – and this is where we have a unique and differentiated value proposition.”

“Our dedicated, passionate and resilient team members are laser-focused on delivering for our customers and executing our strategy to strengthen our core businesses, double down in areas of growth, and accelerate our pivot to as-a-service to drive long-term sustainable, profitable growth,” said Neri.

First Quarter Fiscal Year 2021 Results

Net revenue of $6.8 billion, down 2% from the prior-year period or 3% when adjusted for currency, marked by stronger than normal sequential seasonality.

Annualized revenue run-rate (ARR) of $649 million, up 27% from the prior-year period. Based on strong customer demand and recent wins, we are reiterating our 2019 Securities Analyst Meeting ARR guidance of 30-40% Compounded Annual Growth Rate from fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2022.

GAAP gross margins of 33.5%, up 70 basis points from the prior-year period and Non-GAAP gross margins of 33.7%, up 30 basis points from the prior-year period.

GAAP diluted net earnings per share (“EPS”) was $0.17, compared to $0.25 in the prior-year period and above the previously provided outlook of $0.02 to $0.06 per share.

Non-GAAP diluted net EPS was $0.52, compared to $0.50 in the prior-year period and above the previously provided outlook of $0.40 to $0.44 per share. First quarter non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted net EPS exclude after-tax adjustments of $456 million and $0.35 per diluted share, respectively, primarily related to transformation costs, stock-based compensation expense and the amortization of intangible assets.

Cash flow from operations of approximately $1.0 billion, up $1.0 billion from the prior-year period.

Free cash flow of $563 million, up $748 million from the prior-year period.

Segment Results

• Intelligent Edge revenue was $806 million, up 12% year over year or 11% when adjusted for currency, with 18.9% operating profit margin, compared to 12.1% from the prior-year period. Rich software capabilities combined with greater operational productivity helped accelerate revenue and profits. Based on the solid performance, the Company expects to continue to take share in both campus switching and WLAN.
• High-Performance Compute & Mission Critical Systems (HPC & MCS) revenue was $762 million, down 9% year over year, with a 5.6% operating profit margin, compared to 7.5% from the prior-year period. Despite the inherent uneven nature of the business, the Company remains confident in the near-term and longer-term outlook for this business.
• Compute revenue was $3.0 billion, down 1% year over year or down 2% when adjusted for currency, with 11.5% operating profit margin, compared to 10.7% from the prior-year period.
• Storage revenue was $1.2 billion, down 5% year over year or down 6% when adjusted for currency, with 19.7% operating profit margin, compared to 20.0% from the prior-year period. Notable strength in software-defined solutions, including Nimble, up 31% from the prior-year period when adjusted for currency and All-Flash Array Storage, up 5% from the prior-year period, driven by increased adoption of Primera All Flash.
• Financial Services revenue was $860 million, flat year over year or down 1% when adjusted for currency, with 9.8% operating profit margin, compared to 8.7% from the prior-year period. Net portfolio assets were up 3% year over year or flat when adjusted for currency. The business delivered a return on equity of 16.5%, up 1.3 points from the prior-year period.

Dividend

The Board of Directors has declared a regular cash dividend of $0.12 per share on the company's common stock. This dividend, the second in Hewlett Packard Enterprise's fiscal year 2021, is payable on April 7, 2021, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 10, 2021.

Fiscal 2021 second-quarter outlook:

Hewlett Packard Enterprise estimates GAAP diluted net EPS to be in the range of $0.02 to $0.08 and non-GAAP diluted net EPS to be in the range of $0.38 to $0.44. Fiscal 2021 second quarter non-GAAP diluted net EPS estimates exclude after-tax adjustments of approximately $0.36 per diluted share, primarily related to transformation costs, stock-based compensation expense, and the amortization of intangible assets.

Fiscal 2021 outlook:

Hewlett Packard Enterprise raises GAAP diluted net EPS outlook to $0.48 to $0.66 from $0.38 to $0.56 and non-GAAP diluted net EPS outlook to $1.70 to $1.88 from $1.60 to $1.78. Fiscal 2021 non-GAAP diluted net EPS estimates exclude after-tax adjustments of approximately $1.22 per diluted share, primarily related to transformation costs, stock-based compensation expense, and the amortization of intangible assets.

Raises free cash flow guidance range to $1.1 to $1.4 billion from $0.9 to $1.1 billion.