Shares of Hewlett Packard increased for much of Wednesday and Thursday with the news that Meg Whitman will replace Léo Apotheker as CEO of the company.

MarketWatch reported that HP shares increased 1.1 percent to $23.04 in afterhours trading on Thursday.

On Wednesday, shares of HP increased about 4 percent after it was reported in the media that the board was thinking about getting rid of Apotheker, according to MarketWatch.

Whitman was the focus of a lot of attention recently after she ran as the Republican candidate for governor of California in 2010. She lost to Jerry Brown, a former governor.

Apotheker, a Silicon Valley outsider who had a short, controversial time as CEO of SAP (News - Alert) AG, spent less than a year as CEO at HP.

Whitman’s appointment as HP president and CEO takes effect immediately. Whitman is on H-P’s board of directors and was CEO of eBay (News - Alert) Inc.

In related news, HP said Ray Lane was named HP’s executive chairman – as opposed to his current post of non-executive chairman.

Despite the news, HP shares finished the regular session on Thursday down 4.9 percent.

“H-P's share price has fallen more than 45 percent since Léo Apotheker took over in November last year,” MarketWatch reported.

“Apotheker has been under severe pressure since he took over, following a series of disappointing quarters and the growing perception that he does not have a clear idea of where to take the business,” MarketWatch commented in a recent story.

In August, HP announced controversial plans to spin off of its personal-computer division and that it paid $10 billion for Autonomy (News - Alert), a price that was regarded as excessive by many industry watchers.

In a review of the situation carried by TMCnet, it was reported that HP may have tough times ahead.

HP in August “lowered its outlook, saying it expects adjusted earnings of as much as $4.86 per share and revenue of as much as $127.6 billion, both of which were below analyst projections,” TMCnet said.