Welcome good news
Enterprise IT giant IBM has provided a timely bit of positive news for the tech sector and the market on the whole with the preliminary announcement of its third quarter earnings, which beat Wall Street estimates.
A year-on-year revenue increase of five percent to $25.3 billion has yielded a net income increase of 20 percent to $2.8 billion. This implies a significant improvement in business efficiency from IBM over the past year and its gross profit margin improved to 43.3 percent comnpared to 41.3 percent in Q3 last year.
"Our results demonstrate that the combination of a steady base of recurring revenue and profits, investments for growth in emerging markets, a range of products and services that deliver value to clients, and a strong and flexible financial foundation give IBM a competitive edge in good times and tough times," said Sam Palmisano, IBM chairman, president and CEO. "We remain confident in our full-year outlook."
IBM expects full-year growth of 22 percent. In after hours trading IBM's shares were up over five percent.
