IBM Stock Climbs On Quarterly Earnings Beat

Kicking off earnings season for big technology companies, IBM (IBM) reported second-quarter results late Monday that beat estimates on the top and bottom lines. IBM stock climbed.




X



The company reported adjusted earnings of $2.33 a share on revenue of $18.7 billion. Analysts expected IBM to report earnings of $2.31 a share on revenue of $18.3 billion, according to FactSet.

IBM stock was up 2.7%, near 141.70, during after-hours trading on the stock market today.

Revenue climbed more than 3% from the year-ago period. That was its second straight quarter of revenue growth and its best showing in more than three years.

IBM Stock: Multiyear Transformation

IBM is in a significant multiyear transformation that has focused on developing and expanding what the company calls an open hybrid cloud platform. The company sees it as a $1 trillion market opportunity. A hybrid cloud architecture means IBM can provide its customers with both a public cloud and a private cloud, which gives a company extra network security.

Total cloud revenue in the quarter climbed 13% to $7 billion. Cloud computing is now 38% of total IBM revenue.

“In the second quarter client adoption of our hybrid cloud platform contributed to strong performance in Global Business Services and software and drove improved overall revenue growth,” IBM Chairman and Chief Executive Arvind Krishna said in written remarks with the IBM earnings release. “We are pleased with our progress and we remain on track to deliver full-year revenue growth and meet our cash flow objective.”

IBM is also in the process of spinning off its $19 billion managed infrastructure business. That will allow IBM to focus more intently on cloud computing and artificial intelligence. The spinoff is expected to be completed by year-end.

IBM stock is up 10.5% this year.

Please follow Brian Deagon on Twitter at @IBD_BDeagon for more on tech stocks, analysis and financial markets.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

Become A Top Investor With Leaderboard Stock Ideas

Catch The Next Big Winning Stock With MarketSmith Research Tools

Unlock Premium Stock Lists, Investing Tools And Analysis

Best Growth Stocks To Buy And Watch: See Updates To IBD Stock Lists

Get Stock Ideas From IBD Experts Each Morning Before The Open

Leave a Comment