IBM (NYSE: IBM) stock rose after the company released better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter of the year on Tuesday.
Excluding certain items, IBM reported $3.30 in earnings per share vs. $3.28 expected by analysts.
Revenues were $19.15 billion versus $18.6 billion as expected by analysts.
IBM came close to stopping the drought of revenue growth that lasted for 21 quarters, but didn't manage to do that in the end. IBM revenue has now declined for 22 quarters in a row.
In terms of guidance, IBM expects to finish the calendar year with at least $13.80 in earnings per share, the company said in a statement. Analysts were expecting $13.75 in earnings per share for the entire year.
IBM continues to look to its strategic imperatives -- analytics, cloud, mobile and security -- for growth that can counteract the decline of legacy parts of its business, and that segment delivered $8.8 billion in revenue, up 11% year over year.
Almost 46% of all of the company's revenue for the quarter came from its strategic imperatives, in fact. Cantor Fitzgerald analysts had previously predicted strategic imperatives would contribute about 47% of Big Blue's third-quarter revenue.
Also this morning came the news that Petrosoft and IBM entered into a strategic partnership to develop its fourth-generation site integration network for the retail and downstream petroleum industries.
Stocks began Wednesday up $13.01, or 8.9%, to $159.55
Tech Insider
