Meg Whitman's In Big Trouble – And Other News Told In Charts

by Emily Lambert May 24, 2012

H.P.’s Net Income Falls 31%, Whitman Axes 27,000 Employees

Cloud computing is raining all over Hewlett-Packard (HP), and those of us walking around with smart phones and iPads aren’t helping any. H.P.’s second-quarter net income dropped 31% from a year ago, and revenue fell 3%, reports the New York Times. H.P. will lay off 27,000 employees. Chief Meg Whitman told the Times that H.P. will grow, but despite an uptick in the stock in after-hours trading, she's clearly got some people to win over:

HPQ data by YCharts

NYSE Seeks To Capitalize on Facebook Disaster

After Nasdaq (NDAQ) bungled Facebook’s (FB) IPO last Friday, someone inside NYSE Euronext (NYX) e-mailed Facebook and gently suggested Zuckerberg and company move their stock listing, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Big Board denies any such discussion, but the exchanges' listings race remains red-hot:

NDAQ data by YCharts

New Home Sales Up 9.9% Over Last Year

The real estate sector is showing signs of life. Reuters points out that new home sales rose 9.9% year-over-year, home resales hit a two-year high, and median home prices “surged” to 4.9% over last year’s prices. Approach this with cautious optimism.