HP: Can Things Get Any Worse?

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- HP(HPQ) reports first-quarter results after the market close. Wall Street is wondering whether things can get any worse for the struggling PC maker.

"To put it bluntly ... this story has been an unmitigated train wreck and it seems every time management speaks to the Street, there is new negative information forthcoming," wrote Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI Group, in a note. "We can no longer recommend investors buy shares of HP at current levels as negative information continues to pour out, the end is not sight and we no longer understand what we are 'playing for.'"

Marshall was alluding last quarter's $8.8 billion Autonomy writedown, the previous quarter's $10.8 billion EDS writedown, as well as the company's misalignment of enterprise service revenue to costs.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for HP to report first-quarter revenue of $27.79 billion and earnings of 71 cents a share, down from $30 billion and 92 cents a share a year earlier.

For the fiscal second quarter, Wall Street expects revenue of $27.96 billion and earnings of 77 cents a share.

The market for PC makers is the worst it's ever been. Earlier this week, for example, rival Dell(DELL) discussed a tough PC pricing environment when it reported fourth-quarter results.