IBM’s strategy pays off

Article Excerpt

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. $161 (New York symbol IBM, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 960.0 million; Market cap: $154.6 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 3.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ibm.com) continues to see slowing demand for its mainframe computers and consulting services. In the three months ended June 30, 2016, IBM’s revenue declined 2.8%, to $20.2 billion from $20.8 billion a year earlier. However, the company continues to expand in faster growing fields such cloud computing and analytics software. Sales from these operations— called “Strategic Imperatives” — rose 12% in the latest quarter. They now represent 38% of IBM’s total revenue. Earnings fell 25.2%, to $2.8 billion from $3.8 billion. Per-share profits dropped 23.2%, to $2.95 from $3.84, on fewer shares outstanding. These 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 $2.89 a..