Medtronic CFO Karen Parkhill jumps ship to HP

(Reuters) -Medical device maker Medtronic's finance chief Karen Parkhill will depart the medical device maker to join HP Inc as CFO, the companies said on Wednesday, amid the PC industry's recovery from its extended post-pandemic slump.

Parkhill, who spent the last eight years as CFO at Medtronic, will join HP on Aug. 5 and succeed Marie Myers, who left the personal computer maker for server maker Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Parkhill has previously served as CFO for commercial banking at JPMorgan Chase and Co and has held several other leadership roles.

Her appointment comes at a pivotal time for the industry, with companies like HP Inc. and Dell betting on AI PCs to drive recovery after a years-long post-pandemic slump.

In an interview last month, HP CEO Enrique Lores told Reuters that he expected about 10% of HP's PC sales to come from such "AI PCs" in the second half of the company's fiscal 2024.

Parkhill's exit comes months after Medtronic, as part of a turnaround, decided to exit its unprofitable ventilator product line within its patient monitoring and respiratory interventions (PMRI) business.

"The key question for investors is whether Karen’s decision to move to another company that is having growth challenges is signaling anything," Evercore ISI analyst Vijay Kumar said.

Medtronic reiterated its full-year financial forecast for fiscal year 2025 after Parkhill's departure.

Gary Corona, senior vice president of global financial planning and analysis, will serve as interim finance chief of the medical device maker upon Parkhill's departure.

Medtronic's shares were down 1% in noon trading. They have fallen roughly 9% in the past 12 months.

(Reporting by Sneha S K and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Tasim Zahid)