Shares of Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) are volatile following the release of the company's first-quarter 2012 results and second-quarter outlook. After initially pushing about 3 percent lower in Wednesday's post-market session, shares are now down less than a percent to $28.88.

Revenue during the quarter dropped 7 percent from the same quarter last year and 6.4 percent from last quarter to $30.04 billion. Analysts on the Street had been expecting sales of $30.7 billion.

Unadjusted earnings totaled $1.47 billion, down a sharp 44 percent from the $2.6 billion posted during the first quarter of 2011. Pro-forma earnings tumbled nearly 40 percent from $3.03 billion in the year-ago quarter to $1.83 billion. Profit per share came in at 92 cents, down 32 percent year-over-year. The Wall Street consensus estimate was at 87 cents per share.

HP's new President and CEO Meg Whitman said, "In the first quarter, we delivered on our Q1 outlook and remained focused on the fundamentals to drive long-term sustainable returns. We are taking the necessary steps to improve execution, increase effectiveness and capitalize on emerging opportunities to reassert HP's technology leadership."

Sales to HP's Americas unit fell 9 percent to $13.2 billion. Revenue in Europe, the Middle East and Africa fell 4 percent to $11.7 billion, and sales in Asia Pacific fell 10 percent to $5.2 billion. Revenue from outside of the United States in the first quarter accounted for 66% of total HP revenue. BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) generated revenue of $3.1 billion, down 13% from the year-ago period, and representing 10% of total HP revenue.

Sales to the company's Personal Systems unit sank 15 percent and total units were down 18 percent. Shipments of desktops fell 19 percent while shipments of notebooks fell 18 percent.

Hewlett-Packard is targeting second-quarter operating earnings of 88-91 cents per share, which compares to the Street estimate of 95 cents.

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