IBM cheers market as results narrowly beat expectations

Shares in IBM jumped in pre-market trading on Wednesday after the US firm beat quarterly earnings estimates.

The firm, which is refocusing away from traditional hardware products towards faster-growing, higher-margin segments like cloud services, said full-year revenues were ahead 1% at $79.6bn or flat allowing for currency fluctuations. Adjusted earnings per share were 1% higher at $13.81.

Chief executive Ginni Rometty, who took over the top job in 2012, said: “In 2018 we returned to full-year revenue growth, reflecting growing demand for our services and leadership solutions in hybrid cloud, AI, analytics and security.”

Fourth-quarter revenues dropped 3% to $21.76bn, or 1% allowing for currency fluctuations, though they still managed to narrowly beat expectations. Adjusted earnings per share were $4.87, down 5% year-on-year but around 3 cents higher than most analyst forecasts.

IBM, which last year agreed to acquire US software firm Red Hat for a record $34bn, also struck a cautiously upbeat tone for the current year. It has forecast full-year adjusted earnings per share of $13.90 and free cash flow of around $12bn.

Shares in IBM gained 6% in pre-market trading and were expected to continue improving after the bell.