HP 2014 Annual Report Download - page 41

investment transactions, future stock price performance, board of directors, executive team, our
competitors or our industry in general;
• the announcement of new, planned or contemplated products, services, technological
innovations, acquisitions, divestitures or other significant transactions by HP or its competitors;
• quarterly increases or decreases in revenue, gross margin, earnings or cash flows, changes in
estimates by the investment community or financial outlook provided by HP and variations
between actual and estimated financial results;
• announcements of actual and anticipated financial results by HP’s competitors and other
companies in the IT industry;
• developments relating to pending investigations, claims and disputes; and
• the timing and amount of share repurchases by HP.
General or industry specific market conditions or stock market performance or domestic or
international macroeconomic and geopolitical factors unrelated to HP’s performance also may affect
the price of HP stock. For these reasons, investors should not rely on recent or historical trends to
predict future stock prices, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. In addition, as
discussed in Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements, we are involved in several securities
class action litigation matters. Additional volatility in the price of our securities could result in the filing
of additional securities class action litigation matters, which could result in substantial costs and the
diversion of management time and resources.
Failure to maintain our credit ratings could adversely affect our liquidity, capital position, borrowing costs
and access to capital markets.
Our credit risk is evaluated by the major independent rating agencies. Two of those rating
agencies, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, downgraded our ratings
once during fiscal 2012, and a third rating agency, Fitch Ratings, downgraded our ratings twice during
that fiscal year. In addition, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded our ratings again in November
2012. Our credit ratings remain under negative outlook by Moody’s Investors Service. Past downgrades
have increased the cost of borrowing under our credit facilities, have reduced market capacity for our
commercial paper, and may require the posting of additional collateral under some of our derivative
contracts. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain our current credit ratings, and
any additional actual or anticipated changes or downgrades in our credit ratings, including any
announcement that our ratings are under further review for a downgrade, may further impact us in a
similar manner and may have a negative impact on our liquidity, capital position and access to capital
markets.
We make estimates and assumptions in connection with the preparation of HP’s Consolidated Financial
Statements, and any changes to those estimates and assumptions could adversely affect our results of
operations.
In connection with the preparation of HP’s Consolidated Financial Statements, we use certain
estimates and assumptions based on historical experience and other factors. Our most critical
accounting estimates are described in ‘‘Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations’’ in Item 7 of this report. In addition, as discussed in Note 15 to the
Consolidated Financial Statements, we make certain estimates, including decisions related to provisions
for legal proceedings and other contingencies. While we believe that these estimates and assumptions
are reasonable under the circumstances, they are subject to significant uncertainties, some of which are
beyond our control. Should any of these estimates and assumptions change or prove to have been
incorrect, it could adversely affect our results of operations.
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