NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Hewlett-Packard Co. on Tuesday reported a 45 percent quarterly profit increase in an earnings report that handily beat Wall Street analysts' expectations, thanks to strong sales of PCs and printing supplies and cost-cutting measures.

Shares of the computer and peripherals company rose 4.5 percent in after-hours trading.

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Analysts and investors said they remain impressed with the performance of HP CEO Mark Hurd, who joined the company just over a year ago, succeeding ousted CEO Carly Fiorina.

"Since Hurd came aboard a year ago, it seems the company finally has its mojo back and is coming out with new products and an innovative marketing campaign," said Samir Bhavnani, director of research for Current Analysis, a technology research firm. "It's almost like a new company."

HP (down $0.52 to $31.11, Research) reported earnings, excluding certain charges, of 54 cents a share in the fiscal second quarter, up from pro forma earnings of 37 cents in the year-earlier quarter and beating Wall Street analysts' expectations of 49 cents a share.

Including charges, HP reported earnings of 51 cents a share, up from the 33 cents a share, including charges, that HP reported a year earlier.

The company reported $22.6 billion in sales for the quarter, in line with analysts' estimates and up 5 percent from a year earlier.

HP also issued a better than expected forecast for the current quarter, which is a seasonally slower quarter for the company than the second quarter. HP said it expects earnings, excluding certain charges, of 45 cents to 48 cents a share, which is better than analyst expectations of 43 cents a share. It forecast sales for the current quarter of $21.7 billion, in line with analysts' estimates.

For the full fiscal 2006, HP expects sales of $91 billion, also in line with estimates. HP said it expects fiscal 2006 earnings, minus certain charges, of between $2.04 and $2.08 per share, which also beats the analyst consensus forecast of $1.96 per share.

The company announced that roughly 1,600 jobs were eliminated during the quarter, bringing the total to about 8,100 jobs cut since Hurd announced plans to eliminate 15,300 jobs as part of his plan to restructure HP.

"We posted solid revenue growth, controlled cost and expenses, expanded margins and generated cash flow," said Hurd of the quarter on a conference call to analysts.

But he acknowledged the company needs to grow revenue, which he plans to do in part by increasing the number of products HP sells to corporate customers. Hurd said the company plans to add to its sales staff, with new hires potentially numbering "in the hundreds" over the next several quarters.

HP has gained market share and increased profitability in the division at the same time rival Dell has been losing share and grappling with slowing growth. HP's share of the PC market rose 22.3 percent during the quarter, while Dell's dropped 10.2 percent, according to data from industry research firm Gartner.

Dell, which reports its earnings Thursday, issued a warning last week that its sales and earnings for its most recent quarter will fall short of an earlier forecast.

"Given Dell's pre-announcement, we expected things to maybe be a little bit soft, so we're pleasantly surprised" at HP's results, said Kim Caughey, an analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group. Caughey said she is also pleased with the company's operating margin of 7.3 percent for the quarter, up 1.9 percentage points from the prior-year quarter.

The company's PC division reported $7 billion in revenue on a 16 percent increase in shipments, up 10 percent from the prior-year quarter, and a 69 percent increase in its operating profit. The strength in that division is based largely on a 27 percent increase in laptop sales. Desktop revenue grew just 1 percent year over year. The division posted an operating profit of 3.6 percent of revenue, up from 2.3 percent a year earlier.

Hurd said the PC division, which accounts for about 30 percent of HP's business, has been gradually improving for several quarters, a fact he believes is sometimes overlooked by Wall Street.

"The performance has been a prolonged, sustained march of improvement that pre-dates me," he said during a conference call. "It's been a very steady rise, and it just hasn't been recognized."

HP's most profitable division, the printing business, reported $6.7 billion in sales, up 5 percent year over year, fueled by a 10 percent increase in sales of its printing supplies. Revenue from printers for corporate customers grew 4 percent, but sales of printers to consumers declined 8 percent. The division posted an operating profit of 15.5 percent, up from 12.7 of revenue in the prior year.

The company's enterprise storage and servers business reported $4.3 billion in revenue, up 2 percent from the year-earlier quarter.

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