HP today posted their fourth quarter 2010 financial results, and as expected, revenue and profits were up over the year prior. Specifically, revenue rose $2.5 billion (8%) to $33.3 billion, while profits rose 10% to $4 billion.

Bringing the fiscal year to a close, through FY2010 HP netted $126 billion in revenue (up 10% from FY2009) and profits of $14.6 billion (a 15% increase from last fiscal year). That kind of profit comes in handy when you’ve been on a buying spree. Revenue in each of HP’s major divisions was up, with the Palm-containing Personal Systems Group posting a 4% revenue increase. Palm’s contribution to the Personal System Group’s $10.3 billion in revenue was negligible: Palm falls under the 2% “other” slice in the division’s revenue pie (notebooks accounted for 55%, desktops were 38%, and workstations held down the remaining 5%).

For the next quarter, HP is estimating revenue around $33 billion, up from the $31 billion reported for the first quarter of 2010. For the entire 2011 fiscal year, HP is forecasting revenue between $132 billion and $133 billion, a 5% increase over the current year. For those concerned about new CEO Léo Apotheker, he had this to say of his first three weeks at HP: “I’ve been listening, I’ve been learning, I’ve been immersing myself in the business.”

Source: HP

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“Palm is essentially an accelerating death spiral.”

That’s not a good thing to hear, and given yesterday’s bleak financial report, we can’t say we disagree (though we do maintain that it is possible to pull out of a death spiral). That little nugget comes from Ilya Grozovsky, analyst at Morgan Joseph & Co. As CNN Money noted, Grozovsky was one of two analysts to cut their price targets on Palm stock to a heart-stopping $0/share. By valuing the stock at zero, Grozovsky and Peter Misek of Canaccord Adams are declaring that Palm the company is worth nothing.

Those two doomsayers aren’t the only ones kicking Palm to the curb. At this point, not a single analyst will recommend buying Palm stock. Given Palm’s current cash burn rate, most estimate that Palm has only about twelve months to execute a turnaround or find a suitor with deep pockets.

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Palm has announced their fiscal results for Q3 2010, and in short, it’s not pretty.

Revenue was reported at a $349.9 million, though these are GAAP-adjusted numbers (GAAP accounting defers revenue over the expected service life of the device: 2 years). From a non-GAAP perspective, Palm brought in $366 million in the most recent quarter. Profit-wise, Palm netted a gross profit of $47 million (non-GAAP: $63.5 million). Accounting profits aside, Palm still managed to spend more than they brought in, burning through an additional $22 million this past quarter. Non-GAAP losses: $102.8 million, compared to $45.5 million the previous quarter. Palm ended Q3 FY 2010 with $591.9 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term assets.

The previous quarter Palm brought in $78.1 million (non-GAAP: $302 million) with a gross profit of $5.5 million ($77.3 million). After other expenses, Palm still managed to burn through $85 million cash during the prior quarter. At the very least, Palm has managed to slow the drain rate from their coffers, but as with any company they can only burn cash for so long.

For Q3 FY2010, Palm shipped 960,000 devices, and increase of 23% over the previous quarter, with sell-through numbers of 408,000. In short, selling fewer than half as many units as you ship is not a good position to be in. Also, selling fewer devices the quarter you launch your newest devices onto the biggest network yet is also not a good thing. No breakdown by device or carrier was provided, as is customary for Palm’s quarterly reports. During Q2, Palm shipped 783,000, with sales of 573,000 units.

Obviously, Palm’s expectations for this quarter were higher. As said by CEO Jon Rubinstein:

“Our recent underperformance has been very disappointing, but the potential for Palm remains strong. The work we’re doing to improve sales is having an impact, we’re making great progress on future products, and we’re looking forward to upcoming launches with new carrier partners. Most importantly, we have built a unique and highly differentiated platform in webOS, which will provide us with a considerable – and growing – advantage as we move forward.”

The full Q3 FY2010 report is after the break.

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