IBM 4Q 2010 Earnings Debrief

IBM’s fourth quarter earnings for 2010 were just released over the wire.  Key headlines include record revenue of $29.0B in the quarter, up 7 percent as reported and adjusting for currency.

Diluted earnings per share were $4.18, up 16 percent.

Also, record net of $5.3B, up 9 percent.

Pre-tax income was $7B, up 9 percent, and software revenue was up 11 percent (excluding divested PLM operations).

Services revenues were up 2 percent, with a services backlog of $142B (up $5B year over year).

“We completed an outstanding year, with record profit and free cash flow, and exceeded the high end of our 2010 earnings per share roadmap objective,” said Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer.

“We also capped a decade in which our shift to high-value businesses, our global integration of IBM, our investment in research and development of almost $60 billion and our acquisition of 116 companies have helped us to nearly triple our EPS and return more than $100 billion to shareholders.

“As IBM enters its second century, we will continue to focus on our long-term strategic initiatives — growth markets, Smarter Planet Solutions, cloud and business analytics — as we drive to achieve our new roadmap target of operating earnings per share of at least $20 in 2015.”

More details follow:

• Record net income of $5.3 billion, up 9 percent;
• Pre-tax income of $7 billion, up 9 percent;
• Gross profit margin of 49 percent, up 0.8 points;
• Software revenue excluding divested PLM operations up 11 percent, 12 percent adjusting for currency; 7 percent including PLM;
• Systems and Technology revenue up 21 percent, 22 percent adjusting for currency;
• System z mainframe revenue up 69 percent; MIPS up 58 percent;
• Services revenue up 2 percent as reported and adjusting for currency;
• Services backlog of $142 billion, up $5 billion year over year and up $8 billion quarter to quarter;
• Growth markets revenue up 15 percent, 13 percent adjusting for currency;
• Business analytics revenue up 19 percent;
• Free cash flow of $8.7 billion, up $1.5 billion.

Full-Year 2010:

• Diluted earnings per share of $11.52, up 15 percent and $0.52 ahead of high end of 2010 roadmap; 8^th consecutive year of double-digit EPS growth;
• Revenue of $99.9 billion, up 4 percent, up 3 percent adjusting for currency; up 5 percent, 4 percent adjusting for currency, excluding PLM operations;
• Record net income of $14.8 billion, up 10 percent;
• Record free cash flow of $16.3 billion, up $1.2 billion;

IBM 3Q 2010 Earnings

IBM announced its 3Q 2010 earnings a few moments ago.

The net: 3Q 2010 diluted earnings of $2.82 per share, compared with diluted earnings of $2.40 per share in the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 18 percent.

Third quarter net income was $3.6 billion compared with $3.2 billion in the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 12 percent. Total revenues for the third quarter 2010 of $24.3 billion increased 3 percent (4 percent, adjust for currency) from the third quarter of 2009.

In the press release, IBM CEO Sam Palmisano highlighted growth in the hardware, software and services businesses, as well as expanded margins and, once again, increased earnings per share at double digits.

On a forward looking basis, Palmisano noted IBM is uniquely positioned in the enterprise, investing in high value segments like business analytics, advanced systems and smarter planet solutions.

Other details:

• Diluted earnings per share of $2.82, up 18 percent;
• 31 consecutive quarters of EPS growth, 13 of last 15 at double digits;
• Full-year 2010 EPS expectations raised to at least $11.40;
• Net income of $3.6 billion, up 12 percent;
• Net margin of 14.8 percent, up 1.1 points;
• Revenue of $24.3 billion, up 3 percent as reported, 4 percent adjusting for currency;
• Growth markets revenue up 16 percent, 13 percent adjusting for currency;
• BRIC countries revenue up 29 percent, 26 percent adjusting for currency;
• Business analytics revenue up 14 percent;
• Systems and Technology revenue up 10 percent, 11 percent adjusting for currency;
• System z mainframe revenue up 15 percent; MIPS up 54 percent;
• Software revenue excluding divested PLM operations, up 4 percent, 6 percent adjusting for currency; up 1 percent including divested PLM operations;
• Services revenue up 2 percent, as reported and adjusting for currency;
• Services backlog of $134 billion, up $5 billion quarter to quarter, down $2 billion adjusting for currency, and flat year over year.

You can read more about IBM’s 3Q 2010 earnings here.

IBM 2Q10 Earnings Debrief: Up, Up, and Up

This afternoon IBM announced it’s 2Q10 earnings.  This is the thirtieth straight quarter of IBM earnings per share growth.

Following are some of the key headlines:

• Diluted earnings per share of $2.61, up 13 percent
• 30 consecutive quarters of EPS growth, 12 of last 14 at double digits
• Full-year 2010 EPS expectations raised to at least $11.25
• Net income of $3.4 billion, up 9 percent
• Pre-tax income of $4.6 billion, up 7 percent;
• Pre-tax margin of 19.3 percent, up 1 point
• Revenue of $23.7 billion, up 2 percent, as reported and adjusting for currency
• Growth markets revenue up 14 percent; first-half revenue as large as total Euro zone revenue; BRIC countries revenue up 22 percent
• Business Analytics revenue up 14 percent
• Software revenue up 2 percent, 6 percent excluding divested PLM operations
• Systems and Technology revenue up 3 percent
• Services revenue up 2 percent
• Services backlog of $129 billion, up $1 billion, adjusting for currency.

IBM had a second-quarter 2010 diluted earnings of $2.61 per share compared with diluted earnings of $2.32 per share in the second quarter of 2009, an increase of 13 percent.

Second-quarter net income was $3.4 billion compared with $3.1 billion in the second quarter of 2009, an increase of 9 percent.

Total revenues for the second quarter of 2010 of $23.7 billion increased 2 percent (2 percent, adjusting for currency) from the second quarter of 2009.

The impact of changes in currency rates since IBM’s first-quarter earnings report in April reduced revenue by approximately $500 million in the second quarter.

“In the second quarter we again delivered double-digit earnings-per-share growth, increased margins, as well as improving constant-currency revenue performance in our ongoing software, services and hardware businesses, and in all geographies,” said Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer.

“With the benefit of our strategic growth investments, our mix of higher-value business and the introduction of new System z and Power Systems, we are confident of our ability in the second half of the year to continue our strong business performance, grow profit and drive shareholder returns. As a result, we expect full-year 2010 diluted earnings per share of at least $11.25.”

IBM 4Q09 Earnings Debrief

IBM just announced its 4Q09 earnings, and came in at $3.59 ESP, which was up 10% year-over-year (YOY).

That brought the full year to $10.01 EPS, up 13% YOY.

The 4Q of 09 rise was led by a number of factors, including strong gains in both hardware and software — on the hardware side, by increases on POWER, System x, Blades, and Storage, and in software, by WebSphere, Tivoli and IBM’s branded middleware.

The quarter also saw services signings of $18.8B (actual), and a PTI margin that was up 1.9 points YOY with $7.2B free cash flow.

For the full year, hardware strength included that mentioned above along with strong demand in Total Servers.

There was full year strength with IBM Software in branded middleware, with particular growth in the WebSphere, Tivoli, and Rational lines.

Services signings for the full year were $57B and included a $137B backlog, with IBM outsourcing signings growing up 9% YOY, and 11% at constant currency.

IBM’s full year PTI was up 2.8 points YOY, with a $15.1B free cash flow.

This made for IBM’s 7th consecutive year of double-digit EPS growth, and the expectation is that IBM will reach at least $11.00 EPS in 2010.

Click over to IBM Investor Relations to see more about IBM’s 2009 4Q and full year earnings.

IBM 3Q Earnings: Up 14%

IBM just released its 3Q09 earnings, and here are the headlines:

• Diluted earnings of $2.40 per share, up 18%
• Full-year 2009 EPS expectations raised to at least $9.85 (from at least $9.70)
• Net income of $3.2B, up 14%; net margin of 13.6% up 2.5 points
• Free cash flow of $3.4B, up $1.3B YOY
• Cash balance of $11.5B, $4B debt reduction in the third quarter.

IBM chairman, president and CEO Sam Palmisano had this to say: “Our long-term strategic shift to higher-value businesses again enabled us to deliver outstanding margin, earnings and cash flow growth in the third quarter.”

“We continued to invest for growth in areas where clients see potential for value creation including Smarter Planet solutions, cloud computing and advanced business analytics. We are optimistic about 2009 as we again raise our full-year expectations and we remain well ahead of pace for our 2010 roadmap of $10 to $11 per share.”

IBM expects full-year 2009 pre-tax income for both its software and services segments to grow at double-digit rates and reach approximately $8B.

More details can be found in the IBM 3Q09 earnings press release here.