NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 22, 2008--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings on Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard Co. (A/Stable/A-1) are not affected by the company's announcement that it has authorized an $8 billion share repurchase program, in addition to the $3 billion of authorization remaining on the $8 billion program approved in November 2007. The company has a well-established track record of balancing share repurchases with acquisitions, using internally generated cash flow to fund shareholder appreciation activity. Standard&Poor's expects Hewlett-Packard to balance the recent spike in leverage caused by the $13 billion acquisition of EDS Corp. with moderated share repurchase activity. We expect the company to maintain a lightly leveraged capital structure, with
