RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Shares in IBM (NYSE: IBM) rose Wednesday after the markets closed on news that its second-quarter earnings and revenues topped expectations of Wall Street analysts. In premarket trading Thursday, shares were up 3 percent.
“While revenue has declined for most of the past five years, the company showed signs of life in the quarter,” reported Bloomberg news.
Revenue was up 4 percent year-over-year.
“We increased revenue, grew pre-tax income double digits and expanded pre-tax income margins year to year, while continuing to invest in the business and return capital to shareholders,” said James Kavanaugh, IBM’s senior vice president and chief financial officer. “We remain focused on delivering consistent operational performance, in line with our longer-term model.”
IBM, which operates one of its largest corporate campuses in RTP, reported revenue of $20 billion, topping expectations of $19.62 billion as reported by Zacks.
Earnings hit $308 a share, topping expectations of $2.61 as reported by a poll of analysts by Zacks.
Overall IBM said it earned a profit of $2.4 billion.
For the year, IBM offered earnings guidance of $13.80 a share.
“We delivered strong revenue and profit growth in the quarter, underscoring IBM’s progress and momentum in the emerging, high-value segments of the IT industry,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM’s chair and chief executive officer, in a statement.
“More clients are engaging IBM on their journey to the cloud, and deploying IBM Cloud, Watson AI, analytics, blockchain and security solutions. This demonstrates IBM’s unique leadership in providing innovative technology coupled with deep industry expertise, trust and security.”
Read the earnings report details online.
