Hewlett-Packard Resumes Buybacks, Affirms Profit Outlook

Shares of Hewlett-Packard rallied 1.8% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the printer and PC maker said it would resume share buybacks and affirmed its fiscal 2014 and 2015 profit outlooks. The company also said it is still committed to returning at least 50% of free cash flow to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, and plans to make up for the fiscal 2014 shortfall over the remainder of this year and next. H-P said it had previously suspended buyback activity due to the possession of "material non-public information." H-P had announced on Oct. 6 that it was splitting into two publicly-traded company. Separately, H-P affirmed its 2014 adjusted earnings-per-share outlook of $3.70 to $3.74 and its 2015 target of $3.83 to $4.03. The stock has climbed 15% in the year to date through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.6%.