IBM Posts Record Results

Article Excerpt

IBM $106 (New York symbol IBM; SI Rating: Above average) is holding up well, despite the market’s overall weakness, on the strength of record results in the latest quarter. Sales rose 9.9% in the three months ended December 31, 2007, to $28.9 billion from $26.3 billion. Earnings rose 14.1%, to $4 billion from $3.5 billion. Earnings per share rose 23.9%, to $2.85 from $2.30, on fewer shares outstanding from share buybacks. IBM is the world’s biggest supplier of computers and information processing services. The company’s shift over the past few years into higher-margin computer services and software is paying off. Its high research spending ($1.6 billion or 5.5% of sales in the latest quarter) will let it keep adding profitable new products. IBM is now acquiring Canadian software company Cognos for $5 billion. This is IBM’s largest acquisition ever. Cognos’s products help businesses capture and analyze certain data. Cognos will help IBM compete with other business software firms like SAP and Oracle. IBM is…