Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, October 20, 2017

Article Excerpt

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP., $162.07, New York symbol IBM, is one of the world’s largest computer companies, with operations in over 175 countries. The stock jumped 10% this week after IBM reported better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter of 2017. However, weaker demand for the company’s traditional mainframe computers continued to offset its faster-growing businesses such as cloud computing and analytical software. In the three months ended September 30, 2017, IBM’s overall earnings declined 2.2%, to $3.08 billion from $3.15 billion a year earlier. But due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share profits rose 0.3%, to $3.30 from $3.29. Those figures exclude unusual items such as costs related to recent acquisitions and changes to IBM’s employee pension plans. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $3.28 a share. The company’s revenue in the quarter fell 0.4%, to $19.15 billion from $19.23 billion a year earlier. Even so, that still beat the consensus estimate of $18.6 billion. IBM continues to see strong demand…