Topic: How To Invest

IBM $188.56 – New York symbol IBM

IBM $188.56 (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $209.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.0%; www.ibm.com) reports that its earnings per share before one time items rose 8.0% in the three months ended June 30, 2013, to $3.91 from $3.62. 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, its sales would have declined by 1%.

Demand for the company’s software remains strong, because it helps businesses analyze large amounts of data and improve their efficiency. However, the uncertain economy continues to slow sales of mainframe computers and services. Still, IBM’s computer services business ended the quarter with a backlog of $141 billion, up 3% from a year earlier.

The company continues to make progress on its plan to cut around 2% of its workforce. Thanks to the resulting savings, IBM now expects to earn $16.90 a share for all of 2013, up from its earlier prediction of $16.70. The stock trades at just 11.2 times the new estimate.

IBM is a buy.

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