Overview and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	9 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2021
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Overview and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	Overview and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Background Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company ("Hewlett Packard Enterprise", "HPE", or the "Company") is a global technology leader focused on developing intelligent solutions that allow customers to capture, analyze and act upon data seamlessly from edge to cloud. Hewlett Packard Enterprise enables customers to accelerate business outcomes by driving new business models, creating new customer and employee experiences, and increasing operational efficiency today and into the future. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's customers range from small- and medium-sized businesses ("SMBs") to large global enterprises and governmental entities. On November 1, 2015, the Company became an independent publicly-traded company through a pro rata distribution by HP Inc. ("former Parent" or "HPI"), formerly known as Hewlett-Packard Company ("HP Co."), of 100% of the outstanding shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company to HP Inc.'s stockholders (the "Separation"). Acquisitions On July 1, 2021, the Company entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Zerto Ltd., an industry leader in cloud data management and protection, in a transaction valued at $374 million. The transaction closed on August 31, 2021. Zerto's results of operations will be included within the Company's Storage segment. This acquisition expands HPE GreenLake and continues to deliver on Storage’s shift to a cloud-native, software-defined data services business. During the third quarter of fiscal 2021, the Company completed the acquisitions of Determined AI Inc., a leading player in the evolving machine learning software ecosystem and Ampool Inc., an innovative developer of a data platform designed to deliver a cloud-native, high performance Structured Query Language (“SQL”) analytics engine, for a purchase consideration of $117 million, which has primarily been allocated to goodwill of $86 million and amortizable intangible assets of $24 million. Determined AI’s results of operations have been included with High Performance Computing & Mission-Critical Solutions (HPC & MCS) segment. HPE will combine Determined AI’s unique software solution with its world-leading artificial intelligence and high performance computing offerings to enable machine learning engineers to easily implement and train machine learning models to provide faster and more accurate insights from their data in almost every industry. Ampool's results of operations have been included in the HPE Ezmeral software organization within Corporate Investments and Other segment and will play a pivotal role in accelerating hybrid analytics for customers. Subsequent event On September 7, 2021, the Company expects to redeem all $500 million aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 3.5% Notes due October 2021, and all $800 million aggregate principal amount of its outstanding Floating Rate Notes due October 2021. Basis of Presentation The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company were prepared in accordance with United States ("U.S.") Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"). In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements of Hewlett Packard Enterprise contain all adjustments, including normal recurring adjustments, necessary to present fairly the Company's financial position as of July 31, 2021 and October 31, 2020, its results of operations for the three and nine months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, its cash flows for the nine months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, and its statements of stockholders' equity for the three and nine months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020. The results of operations for the three and nine months ended July 31, 2021 and the cash flows for the nine months ended July 31, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. The information included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2020, including "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations", "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk" and the Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto included in Items 7, 7A and 8, respectively. Principles of Consolidation The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and all subsidiaries and affiliates in which the Company has a controlling financial interest or is the primary beneficiary. All intercompany transactions and accounts within the consolidated businesses of the Company have been eliminated. The Company consolidates a Variable Interest Entity (“VIE”) where it has been determined that the Company is the primary beneficiary of the entity’s operation. In evaluating whether the Company is the primary beneficiary, the Company evaluates its power to direct the most significant activities of the VIE by considering the purpose and design of the entity and the risks the entity was designed to create and pass through to its variable interest holders. The Company also evaluates its economic interests in the VIE. The Company accounts for investments in companies over which it has the ability to exercise significant influence but does not hold a controlling interest under the equity method of accounting, and the Company records its proportionate share of income or losses in Earnings from equity interests in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings. Non-controlling interests are presented as a separate component within Total stockholders' equity in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Net earnings attributable to non-controlling interests are recorded within Interest and other, net in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings and are not presented separately, as they were not material for any periods presented. Segment Realignment and Reclassifications Effective at the beginning of the first quarter of fiscal 2021, HPE implemented certain organizational changes to align its segment financial reporting more closely with its current business structure. These organizational changes are: (i) the transfer of the lifecycle event services business, previously reported within the Advisory and Professional Services ("A & PS") reportable segment to Compute, Storage and HPC & MCS reportable segments; (ii) the transfer of certain software and related services business, previously reported within the Compute, Storage and A & PS reportable segments to the Corporate Investments and Other reportable segment, to form a new Software operating segment; and (iii) the transfer of the remaining A & PS operating segment, previously reported as a separate reportable segment, to the Corporate Investments and Other reportable segment. As a result of these changes, the Corporate Investments and Other Segment now includes the A & PS operating segment, the Communications and Media Solutions operating segment, the Software operating segment, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Labs which is responsible for research and development. Additionally, effective at the beginning of the first quarter of fiscal 2021, the Company has excluded stock-based compensation expense from its segment earnings from operations. The Company reflected these changes to its segment information retrospectively to the earliest period presented, which primarily resulted in the realignment of net revenue, operating profit and total assets for each of the segments as described above. These changes had no impact on Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s previously reported consolidated net revenue, net earnings, net earnings per share ("EPS") or total assets. Significant Accounting Policies Except for the change in certain accounting policies upon adoption of the accounting standards described below, there have been no significant changes to the Company's significant accounting policies described in PART II, Item 8, Note 1, "Overview and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies", of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2020. Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements In January 2021, the FASB issued guidance to clarify that all derivative instruments affected by changes to the interest rates used for discounting, margining or contract price alignment can apply certain optional expedients and exceptions mentioned in its reference rate reform guidance even though they do not reference to LIBOR or a rate being discontinued. This guidance was effective upon issuance. The Company adopted the guidance in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 and there was no impact on its Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements upon adoption. In December 2019, the FASB amended the existing accounting standards for income taxes. The amendments clarify and simplify the accounting for income taxes by eliminating certain exceptions to the general principles. The Company adopted the guidance in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 and there was no material impact on its Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. In August 2018, the FASB issued guidance on a customer's accounting for implementation costs incurred in cloud-computing arrangements that are hosted by a vendor. Certain types of implementation costs should be capitalized and amortized over the term of the hosting arrangement. The Company adopted the guidance in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 and there was no material impact on its Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. In August 2018, the FASB issued guidance which changes the disclosure requirements for fair value measurements and defined benefit pension plans. The Company adopted the guidance in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 and there was no impact on its Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. However, the Company expects to have additional disclosures relating to retirement and post-retirement benefit plans in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2021. In June 2016, the FASB amended the existing accounting standards for the measurement of credit losses with additional amendments in 2018, 2019 and 2020. These amendments primarily require the measurement and recognition of current expected credit losses for financial assets held at amortized cost. The amended accounting standard replaces the existing incurred loss impairment model with an expected loss model, which requires the use of forward-looking information to calculate credit loss estimates. It also eliminates the concept of other-than-temporary impairment and requires credit losses related to available-for-sale debt securities to be recorded through an allowance for credit losses rather than as a reduction in the amortized cost basis of the securities. These changes will result in earlier recognition of credit losses. The Company adopted the Current Expected Credit Losses standard (the “CECL standard”) as of November 1, 2020 using the modified retrospective method, with the cumulative-effect adjustment recorded to the opening balance of Accumulated deficit within stockholders’ equity in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The cumulative effect of adopting the CECL standard resulted in an increase of $28 million to the allowance for expected credit losses within financing receivables, and a corresponding increase of $25 million, net of $3 million of deferred taxes to Accumulated deficit as of November 1, 2020. The allowance for expected credit losses related to accounts receivables is comprised of a general reserve and a specific reserve. The Company may record a specific reserve for individual accounts when the Company becomes aware of specific customer circumstances, such as in the case of a bankruptcy filing or deterioration in the customer's operating results or financial position. If there are additional changes in circumstances related to the specific customer, the Company further adjusts estimates of the recoverability of receivables. The Company maintains an allowance for credit losses for all other customers based on a variety of factors, including the use of third-party credit risk models that generate quantitative measures of default probabilities based on market factors, the financial condition of customers and the length of time receivables are past due. These qualitative factors are subjective and require a degree of management judgement. The past due or delinquency status of a receivable is based on the contractual payment terms of the receivable. The Company establishes an allowance for expected credit losses related to accounts receivable, including unbilled receivables. The allowance for expected credit losses related to financing receivables is comprised of a general reserve and a specific reserve. The Company establishes a specific reserve for financing receivables with identified exposures, such as customer defaults, bankruptcy or other events, that make it unlikely the Company will recover its investment. For individually evaluated receivables, the Company determines the expected cash flow for the receivable, which includes consideration of estimated proceeds from disposition of the collateral and calculates an estimate of the potential loss and the probability of loss. For those accounts where a loss is considered probable, the Company records a specific reserve. The Company maintains a general reserve using a credit loss model on a regional basis and bases such percentages on several factors, including consideration of historical credit losses and portfolio delinquencies, trends in the overall weighted-average risk rating of the portfolio, current economic conditions, and forward-looking information, including reasonable and supportable forecasts. The Company believes the economic forecasts employed represent reasonable and supportable forecasts, followed by a reversion to long term trends. The Company excludes accounts evaluated as part of the specific reserve from the general reserve analysis. The Company generally writes off a receivable or records a specific reserve when a receivable becomes 180 days past due, or sooner if the Company determines that the receivable is not collectible. The Company’s debt securities are generally considered available-for-sale and are reported at fair value with unrealized gains and losses, net of applicable taxes, recorded in Accumulated other comprehensive loss in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Realized gains and losses for available-for-sale securities are calculated based on the specific identification method and included in Interest and other, net in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings. The Company monitors its investment portfolio for potential impairment on a quarterly basis. When the carrying amount of an investment in debt securities exceeds its fair value and the decline in value is determined to be due to credit-related factors, the Company recognizes the impairment by way of an allowance for credit loss in Interest and other, net in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Earnings while the impairment that is not credit related is recorded in Accumulated other comprehensive loss in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Recently Enacted Accounting Pronouncements In January 2020, the FASB issued guidance to clarify certain interactions between the guidance to account for equity securities, the guidance to account for investments under the equity method of accounting, and the guidance to account for derivatives and hedging. The new guidance clarifies the application of measurement alternatives and the accounting for certain forward contracts and purchased options to acquire investments. The Company is required to adopt the guidance in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, though early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect the impact on adoption of these amendments on its Consolidated Financial Statements to be material.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company ("Hewlett Packard Enterprise", "HPE", or the "Company") is a global technology leader focused on developing intelligent solutions that allow customers to capture, analyze and act upon data seamlessly from edge to cloud. Hewlett Packard Enterprise enables customers to accelerate business outcomes by driving new business models, creating new customer and employee experiences, and increasing operational efficiency today and into the future. Hewlett Packard Enterprise's customers range from small- and medium-sized businesses ("SMBs") to large global enterprises and governmental entities.

On November 1, 2015, the Company became an independent publicly-traded company through a pro rata distribution by HP Inc. ("former Parent" or "HPI"), formerly known as Hewlett-Packard Company ("HP Co."), of 100% of the outstanding shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company to HP Inc.'s stockholders (the "Separation").

On July 1, 2021, the Company entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Zerto Ltd., an industry leader in cloud data management and protection, in a transaction valued at $374 million. The transaction closed on August 31, 2021. Zerto's results of operations will be included within the Company's Storage segment. This acquisition expands HPE GreenLake and continues to deliver on Storage’s shift to a cloud-native, software-defined data services business.

During the third quarter of fiscal 2021, the Company completed the acquisitions of Determined AI Inc., a leading player in the evolving machine learning software ecosystem and Ampool Inc., an innovative developer of a data platform designed to deliver a cloud-native, high performance Structured Query Language (“SQL”) analytics engine, for a purchase consideration of $117 million, which has primarily been allocated to goodwill of $86 million and amortizable intangible assets of $24 million. Determined AI’s results of operations have been included with High Performance Computing & Mission-Critical Solutions (HPC & MCS) segment. HPE will combine Determined AI’s unique software solution with its world-leading artificial intelligence and high performance computing offerings to enable machine learning engineers to easily implement and train machine learning models to provide faster and more accurate insights from their data in almost every industry. Ampool's results of operations have been included in the HPE Ezmeral software organization within Corporate Investments and Other segment and will play a pivotal role in accelerating hybrid analytics for customers.

The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company were prepared in accordance with United States ("U.S.") Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"). In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements of Hewlett Packard Enterprise contain all adjustments, including normal recurring adjustments, necessary to present fairly the Company's financial position as of July 31, 2021 and October 31, 2020, its results of operations for the three and nine months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, its cash flows for the nine months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, and its statements of stockholders' equity for the three and nine months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020.

The results of operations for the three and nine months ended July 31, 2021 and the cash flows for the nine months ended July 31, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. The information included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2020, including "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations", "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk" and the Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto included in Items 7, 7A and 8, respectively.

The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and all subsidiaries and affiliates in which the Company has a controlling financial interest or is the primary beneficiary. All intercompany transactions and accounts within the consolidated businesses of the Company have been eliminated.

The Company consolidates a Variable Interest Entity (“VIE”) where it has been determined that the Company is the primary beneficiary of the entity’s operation. In evaluating whether the Company is the primary beneficiary, the Company evaluates its power to direct the most significant activities of the VIE by considering the purpose and design of the entity and the risks the entity was designed to create and pass through to its variable interest holders. The Company also evaluates its economic interests in the VIE.

The Company accounts for investments in companies over which it has the ability to exercise significant influence but does not hold a controlling interest under the equity method of accounting, and the Company records its proportionate share of income or losses in Earnings from equity interests in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings.

Non-controlling interests are presented as a separate component within Total stockholders' equity in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Net earnings attributable to non-controlling interests are recorded within Interest and other, net in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings and are not presented separately, as they were not material for any periods presented.

(i) the transfer of the lifecycle event services business, previously reported within the Advisory and Professional Services ("A & PS") reportable segment to Compute, Storage and HPC & MCS reportable segments; (ii) the transfer of certain software and related services business, previously reported within the Compute, Storage and A & PS reportable segments to the Corporate Investments and Other reportable segment, to form a new Software operating segment; and (iii) the transfer of the remaining A & PS operating segment, previously reported as a separate reportable segment, to the Corporate Investments and Other reportable segment. As a result of these changes, the Corporate Investments and Other Segment now includes the A & PS operating segment, the Communications and Media Solutions operating segment, the Software operating segment, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Labs which is responsible for research and development.

The Company reflected these changes to its segment information retrospectively to the earliest period presented, which primarily resulted in the realignment of net revenue, operating profit and total assets for each of the segments as described above. These changes had no impact on Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s previously reported consolidated net revenue, net earnings, net earnings per share ("EPS") or total assets.

Except for the change in certain accounting policies upon adoption of the accounting standards described below, there have been no significant changes to the Company's significant accounting policies described in PART II, Item 8, Note 1, "Overview and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies", of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2020.

In January 2021, the FASB issued guidance to clarify that all derivative instruments affected by changes to the interest rates used for discounting, margining or contract price alignment can apply certain optional expedients and exceptions mentioned in its reference rate reform guidance even though they do not reference to LIBOR or a rate being discontinued. This guidance was effective upon issuance. The Company adopted the guidance in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 and there was no impact on its Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements upon adoption.

In August 2018, the FASB issued guidance on a customer's accounting for implementation costs incurred in cloud-computing arrangements that are hosted by a vendor. Certain types of implementation costs should be capitalized and amortized over the term of the hosting arrangement. The Company adopted the guidance in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 and there was no material impact on its Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

In August 2018, the FASB issued guidance which changes the disclosure requirements for fair value measurements and defined benefit pension plans. The Company adopted the guidance in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 and there was no impact on its Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. However, the Company expects to have additional disclosures relating to retirement and post-retirement benefit plans in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2021.

In June 2016, the FASB amended the existing accounting standards for the measurement of credit losses with additional amendments in 2018, 2019 and 2020. These amendments primarily require the measurement and recognition of current expected credit losses for financial assets held at amortized cost. The amended accounting standard replaces the existing incurred loss impairment model with an expected loss model, which requires the use of forward-looking information to calculate credit loss estimates. It also eliminates the concept of other-than-temporary impairment and requires credit losses related to available-for-sale debt securities to be recorded through an allowance for credit losses rather than as a reduction in the amortized cost basis of the securities. These changes will result in earlier recognition of credit losses. The Company adopted the Current Expected Credit Losses standard (the “CECL standard”) as of November 1, 2020 using the modified retrospective method, with the cumulative-effect adjustment recorded to the opening balance of Accumulated deficit within stockholders’ equity in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The cumulative effect of adopting the CECL standard resulted in an increase of $28 million to the allowance for expected credit losses within financing receivables, and a corresponding increase of $25 million, net of $3 million of deferred taxes to Accumulated deficit as of November 1, 2020.

The allowance for expected credit losses related to accounts receivables is comprised of a general reserve and a specific reserve. The Company may record a specific reserve for individual accounts when the Company becomes aware of specific customer circumstances, such as in the case of a bankruptcy filing or deterioration in the customer's operating results or financial position. If there are additional changes in circumstances related to the specific customer, the Company further adjusts estimates of the recoverability of receivables. The Company maintains an allowance for credit losses for all other customers based on a variety of factors, including the use of third-party credit risk models that generate quantitative measures of default probabilities based on market factors, the financial condition of customers and the length of time receivables are past due. These qualitative factors are subjective and require a degree of management judgement. The past due or delinquency status of a receivable is based on the contractual payment terms of the receivable. The Company establishes an allowance for expected credit losses related to accounts receivable, including unbilled receivables.

The allowance for expected credit losses related to financing receivables is comprised of a general reserve and a specific reserve. The Company establishes a specific reserve for financing receivables with identified exposures, such as customer defaults, bankruptcy or other events, that make it unlikely the Company will recover its investment. For individually evaluated receivables, the Company determines the expected cash flow for the receivable, which includes consideration of estimated proceeds from disposition of the collateral and calculates an estimate of the potential loss and the probability of loss. For those accounts where a loss is considered probable, the Company records a specific reserve. The Company maintains a general reserve using a credit loss model on a regional basis and bases such percentages on several factors, including consideration of historical credit losses and portfolio delinquencies, trends in the overall weighted-average risk rating of the portfolio, current economic conditions, and forward-looking information, including reasonable and supportable forecasts. The Company believes the economic forecasts employed represent reasonable and supportable forecasts, followed by a reversion to long term trends. The Company excludes accounts evaluated as part of the specific reserve from the general reserve analysis. The Company generally writes off a receivable or records a specific reserve when a receivable becomes 180 days past due, or sooner if the Company determines that the receivable is not collectible.

The Company’s debt securities are generally considered available-for-sale and are reported at fair value with unrealized gains and losses, net of applicable taxes, recorded in Accumulated other comprehensive loss in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Realized gains and losses for available-for-sale securities are calculated based on the specific identification method and included in Interest and other, net in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings. The Company monitors its investment portfolio for potential impairment on a quarterly basis. When the carrying amount of an investment in debt securities exceeds its fair value and the decline in value is determined to be due to credit-related factors, the Company recognizes the impairment by way of an allowance for credit loss in Interest and other, net in the Condensed Consolidated

In January 2020, the FASB issued guidance to clarify certain interactions between the guidance to account for equity securities, the guidance to account for investments under the equity method of accounting, and the guidance to account for derivatives and hedging. The new guidance clarifies the application of measurement alternatives and the accounting for certain forward contracts and purchased options to acquire investments. The Company is required to adopt the guidance in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, though early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect the impact on adoption of these amendments on its Consolidated Financial Statements to be material.