Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, April 20, 2018

Article Excerpt

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP., $144.90, New York symbol IBM, is one of the world’s largest computer companies, with operations in over 175 countries. IBM reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter of 2018. However, the stock dropped 8% this week as the company’s earnings outlook for all of 2018 fell short of the consensus estimate. That’s partly because the launch of new mainframe computers helped fuel its recent earnings. However, its future profit margins could suffer as sales of those new machines decline. In the three months ended March 31, 2018, IBM’s overall earnings rose 2.2%, to $2.27 billion from $2.22 billion a year earlier. Due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share profits gained 4.3%, to $2.45 from $2.35. Those figures exclude unusual items such as costs related to recent acquisitions, changes to IBM’s employee pension plans and items related to the new U.S. tax code. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $2.39 a share. The company’s revenue in the…