Nosedive: HP shares plunge 20% on Wall Street

NEW YORK: Hewlett-Packard shares plunged 20 per cent on Wall Street after the world’s top personal computer maker announced a dramatic strategic shakeup that includes spinning off its PC business. Shares in HP lost 20.03 per cent Friday to close at $23.60, wiping more than $12 billion off the Palo Alto, California-based firm’s market capitalisation. HP shares, which shed 5.99 per cent on Thursday, are trading at their lowest levels in six years. HP announced Thursday it was exploring a spinoff of its PC unit, or Personal Systems Group (PSG), and buying British enterprise software company Autonomy for $10.24 billion as it refocuses on software and technology solutions.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2011.