IBM Eye

Big news today of course is IBM’s 4th quarter results from 2005. Here is a brief summary of some of the reporting on the announcement.

IBM Press release: IBM Reports 2005 Fourth-Quarter Results

• Total diluted earnings per common share of $2.01, including $.10 per diluted share for a one-time pretax charge for pension changes; without the charge, IBM diluted earnings per share were $2.11, up 26 percent from fourth-quarter 2004.
• Total revenue of $24.4 billion, down 12 percent versus the fourth quarter of 2004, up 3 percent without the impact of the divested PC business and adjusting for currency.

Yahoo (Reuters): IBM profit gains on services

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - IBM, the world’s biggest computer company, said on Tuesday that quarterly profit rose, helped by its consulting business and sales of large computers to businesses.

Net income climbed to $3.19 billion, or $1.99 per share, in the fourth quarter from a restated $2.83 billion, or $1.67 per share, a year earlier, International Business Machines Corp. said.

IBM reported fourth-quarter earnings before exceptional items of $2.11 per share, surpassing analysts’ average forecast of $1.94 per share as compiled by Reuters Estimates. Shares gained 28 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $83.45 in after-hours trade on Inet.

IBM Watch - eWeek: IBM 4Q: Services are the unanswered question

Although IBM’s fourth quarter results look good on the surface, they’re clearly a mixed bag. The benefit of selling the unprofitable PC unit to Lenovo became apparent, demonstrating that the margins on the rest of IBM hardware are good, as IBM-watcher Bob Djurdjevic noted.

But IBM Global Services, nearly half the company, had a disappointing quarter, with a $2 billion drop in its backlog and a 9% decline in new contract signings.

Is there cause for alarm? Not yet. The first quarter could look very different if IGS gets a big slice of the General Motors pie.

InfoWorld: Wall Street Beat: Earnings bring mixed results

IBM Corp. issued a good-news, bad-news report Tuesday, highlighting its perennial strengths and weaknesses. While it ended 2005 with strong earnings, as a result of cost controls and strong services-unit performance, sales were essentially flat. Net income for the year was $8 billion on revenue of $91.1 billion. Revenue for the fourth quarter, however, came up about $1 billion short of broker forecasts.

BusinessWeek Online: Big Blue Is in the Pink

Thanks to its consulting business and strong chip sales, IBM beats expectations to end a sometimes rocky fiscal year on a high note

A fiscal year that included a major black eye for IBM ended on a more upbeat note, as the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 17. Profit from continuing operations was $3.2 billion, or $2.01 a share, 7 cents per share higher than analysts were expecting. Excluding a one-time charge for pension changes, income for the quarter increased 19%.