HP is still looking for more signs of stability in IT spending.

Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Mark Hurd said Thursday the technology giant is still looking for more signs of stability in IT spending.

Mr. Hurd, speaking at an investor conference in New York, sounded just as conservative about any potential turnaround as he did on May 19, when HP reported a 17% drop in second fiscal second-quarter net earnings. At the time, Mr. Hurd provided an equally bearish take on IT spending, a sentiment that ran counter to most of HP's competition.
Digits

On Thursday, Mr. Hurd told the Bernstein & Co. Strategic Decisions Conference in New York that while there have been some positive signs in some markets, IT spending in Europe continues to be weak and may be getting weaker.

"I think we saw a more stable market," Mr. Hurd said. "But people are still trying to squeeze their budgets. I would like to see signs across more markets."

He reiterated that HP is seeing signs of improvement in the U.S. and China.

HP did receive positive news Thursday when market tracker IDC said the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company gained share in the first calendar quarter in the market for giant computers known as servers, which is a key product line for HP. But Mr. Hurd said this could be taken as a sign IT spending is still floundering.

"We haven't been pricing to gain share," he said, "so the good news is we're gaining share, but the bad news is we're gaining share, which tells me the market is not as strong as we predicted in some of our markets."