FORTUNE — In an interview last night with Re/Code, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO Meg Whitman said the following when asked abut acquisition strategy:
“I think we feel comfortable now. We have no debt, we’ve stabilized the company. You have to find the right asset that will help and that you’re willing to pay for.”
That’s right, HP has no debt. Well, unless you include the $17.2 billion in long-term debt that HP reported just yesterday in its first-quarter financials.
An HP spokeswoman said that Whitman “misspoke,” and meant to refer to “net debt on an operating level.” In other words, pull out the company’s $15 billion of cash and $3 billion in debt related to HP financing activities.
Meg Whitman obviously knows her own company’s balance sheet. But, in this case, her shorthand came off as jarringly disingenuous.
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