HP’s outlook disillusions investors

Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Meg Whitman told analysts Wednesday that things are going to get worse before they get better at the ailing Silicon Valley pioneer.

Management expects its 2013 earnings to fall by as much as 16 percent, after subtracting accounting charges and other items unrelated to Hewlett-Packard Co.’s ongoing business. The prediction caught Wall Street off guard because analysts had projected a slight uptick in next year’s earnings.

THE REACTION: More investors dumped HP’s already battered stock. The shares plunged 13 percent to their lowest level in nearly a decade.