Topic: Growth Stocks

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, July 19, 2013

Article Excerpt

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP., $193.54, New York symbol IBM, reported lower second-quarter earnings this week, although they still beat the consensus forecast. The company also raised its earnings estimate for all of 2013. In the three months ended June 30, 2013, the company earned $3.2 billion, down 16.9% from $3.9 billion a year earlier. IBM spent $3.6 billion on share buybacks in the latest quarter. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share fell at a slower pace of 12.9%, to $2.91 from $3.34. If you exclude unusual items, such as costs to integrate recently purchased companies, IBM’s per-share earnings would have risen 8%, to $3.91. That easily beat the consensus forecast of $3.77. Revenue fell 3.3%, to $24.9 billion from $25.8 billion. That fell short of the consensus estimate of $25.4 billion. IBM gets two-thirds of its revenue from overseas. If you adjust for foreign exchange rates, sales would have declined by 1%. Demand for the company’s software remains strong, because…