CCR: AA-/Stable/A-1+ Hewlett-Packard's board of directors recently authorized the company to repurchase up to $2 billion more of common shares to offset dilution from the issuance of shares under employee benefit programs and for opportunistic share repurchases. Standard&Poor's does not expect this authorization to have any impact on Hewlett-Packard's ratings. Over the past several years, Hewlett-Packard has repurchased more than $6 billion of common stock under a series of buyback authorizations. While cash balances may fluctuate somewhat, Hewlett-Packard is expected to retain a conservative balance sheet structure and strong financial flexibility.
