Board Shake-Up Should Be Positive For HPQ Shares, J.P. Morgan Reports

Overweight-rated Hewlett-Packard HPQ announced a Board shake-up yesterday, J.P. Morgan reports. “We believe that the director changes and the pedigrees of the new directors should be a positive shot-in-the-arm for the stock,” J.P. Morgan writes. “The prior Board had been under pressure since last year's CEO turmoil and arguably mixed acquisition campaign. “In our view, the new board members complement Ray Lane and Marc Andreessen's operations and visionary statures on the Board, and all of this should help the company pursue its enterprise solutions build-out with purpose and sound business acumen.” J.P. Morgan said that it believes yesterday's board shake-up should be a positive event for shares of HP. “The changes stand to put last year's CEO turmoil and arguably mixed acquisition campaign further in the rearview mirror. The composition of the new Board brings a stronger balance of operations and visionary-focused executives, which is important as new CEO Leo Apotheker prepares to unveil potential changes to HP's strategic direction.” Hewlett-Packard closed Thursday at $46.78.