Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) CEO Antonio Neri has marked the current era as the boom of artificial intelligence (AI). In a recent interview, Neri unveiled the extraordinary success of HPE in the AI market, reporting a staggering 37 percent increase in high-performance computing and AI, catapulting revenues to $1.2 billion for the fourth fiscal quarter ending on October 31. The AI landscape, according to Neri, is not just growing; it’s exploding.
AI orders soar from $100 million to $2.4 billion
Neri disclosed that HPE concluded fiscal year 2023 with an astounding $2.4 billion in AI orders related to training AI models, a monumental leap from a mere $100 million at the beginning of the fiscal year. The growth, as Neri emphasized, is not just substantial but monumental, with the pipeline of opportunities appearing to be nothing short of massive.
Neri, in a call with financial analysts, highlighted the surging demand for AI solutions. Accelerated compute infrastructure and services witnessed a significant uptake in customer demand, with orders for servers containing Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) representing 32 percent of the total server order mix in Q4—an increase of more than 250 percent since the start of fiscal year 2023. APUs, including GPU-based servers, constituted 25 percent of HPE’s total server order mix for the entire fiscal year. The AI and supercomputing business of HPE soared by 25 percent in fiscal 2023, culminating in the largest order bookings ever at $3.6 billion.
Antonio Neri boldly predicts that 2024 will be the pinnacle of AI revenue growth for HPE. The demand is expected to remain robust, leading to a substantial order backlog until GPU supply constraints are alleviated. Neri envisions AI playing a pivotal role in the repatriation of data from public clouds, emphasizing HPE’s focus on providing an automated data pipeline with their unified analytics platform.
GreenLake momentum and beyond
Neri’s revelations extend beyond AI success. Intelligent edge sales for HPE surged by 41 percent to $1.4 billion, constituting 18 percent of the total company revenue for the full fiscal year and an impressive 39 percent of the total company profit.
GreenLake, HPE’s innovative consumption-based IT model, reported a fourth-quarter annualized revenue run rate of $1.3 billion—an extraordinary 37 percent increase from the prior year. The GreenLake customer base expanded by 2,000 new customers, totaling 29,000 with a contract value exceeding $13 billion.
Pat O’Dell, GM and managing partner for CPP Associates, a GreenLake North America Partner of the Year, expressed confidence in HPE’s position to dominate the AI market. According to O’Dell, HPE’s edge in high-performance compute, coupled with the efficiency of the GreenLake model, positions the company as a formidable player in the AI arena.
Closing the financial report for the fourth quarter, HPE disclosed non-GAAP earnings per share of 52 cents on sales of $7.4 billion, beating the Zacks consensus estimate. For fiscal year 2023, HPE reported record non-GAAP earnings per share of $2.15, up 6 percent from the prior fiscal year, on sales of $29.1 billion, marking a 2 percent increase and a 5.5 percent rise in constant currency.
Shaping 2024 and beyond
Antonio Neri’s declaration of 2024 as ‘The Year of AI Revenue Growth’ sets the tone for HPE’s ambitious strategy. The AI boom, reflected in the company’s exceptional financial performance, underscores the growing significance of AI in shaping the future of technology. As HPE anticipates a surge in AI orders and envisions AI as a key driver of data repatriation, the question arises: What transformative impact will HPE’s AI-driven approach have on the broader landscape of the tech industry in the coming year?
