Bounce back: Lenovo beats expectations for revenue, earnings

Lenovo shares received a 2 percent bounce on the Hong Kong stock exchange Thursday after the global tech giant reported revenues and earnings that exceed analysts’ expectations.

PC sales rebounded, Lenovo disclosed, but losses continue in its mobile and server businesses.

Lenovo also announced a deal to acquire Fujitsu’s PC business in a bid to help the company regain the No. 1 spot in global PC sales.

The news comes two weeks after Lenovo confirmed some 1,000 layoffs across the company. Lenovo operates one of its two global headquarters in Morrisville. The other is in Beijing.

“Lenovo has entered a new phase of growth, and we should see sustained improvement in the following quarters,” chairman and chief executive Yang Yuanqing said in a conference call.

Lenovo reported a $72 million loss in its previous quarter.

“In the last quarter we continued to make progress in transforming our business by executing our 3-wave strategy,” Yang added in a statement.

“We maintained industry leading profitability in our PC business and outgrew the market year-on-year.

“In our Data Center business [which is based in the Triangle] our transformation is taking effect with a strengthened sales force, new global channel structure and programs, and new product competitiveness.

“Our mobile business turnaround is still in progress, and in most markets we saw strong premium to market growth.”

“We will continue to invest in building foundation and core competence for the two new growth engines, which will bring stable and sustainable returns,” he added.

Lenovo earnings were $139 million for the quarter ending in September, down from $157 million a year ago but far above expectations of $44 million.

Reuters noted that a “taxation gain” of $118 million helped Lenovo’s bottom line.

Revenue, meanwhile, rose year-over-year to $11.8 billion, up $600 million, and topping expectations of $11.3 billion.

Operating profits rose $94 million from the previous quarter.

In highlights from the report: