International Business Machines Corp. revenue continued to decline in the third quarter, according to a Monday earnings report, and shares sank in after-hours trading as the company said it would not provide an outlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a conference call, IBM\u00a0IBM,\u00a0+0.41%\u00a0Chief Financial Officer James Kavanaugh said the company would be taking charges of $2.3 billion in the fourth quarter \u201cto simplify and streamline our business\u201d as the company transitions to spinning off\u00a0its IT outsourcing business. \u201cGiven this uncertainty and consistent with our direction for most of this year, we are not going to provide guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are making strategic decisions, taking actions, and increasing investments today to better position our business and accelerate our top line growth on a sustainable basis,\u201d Chief Executive Arvind Krishna said on the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of $4.09 a share on revenue of $20.81 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company reported third-quarter net income of $2.3 billion, or $2.58 a share, compared with $2.68 a share in the year-ago period. Earnings from continuing operations were $1.89 a share, compared with $1.87 a share in the year-ago period. Revenue fell to $17.6 billion from $18.03 billion in the year-ago quarter, continuing\u00a0a long-term sales decline\u00a0that has seen revenue fall year-over-year in all but four of the past 33 quarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IBM had reported preliminary earnings of $2.58 a share on revenue of $17.6 billion earlier this month, and analysts surveyed by FactSet had shifted their estimates to an average of $2.58 a share on revenue of $17.54 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shares, which had been down about 1% following the earnings report, were down about 2.5% during the conference call. Those share moves followed a 0.3% decline in the regular session to $125.52.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IBM has focused on hybrid-cloud technology<\/a> of late, including with the spinoff news<\/a>, which was messaged as a way to focus more on that area. IBM claimed total cloud revenue, which is spread among some of its segments, increased 19% to $6 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Global technology services, or GTS, posted $6.5 billion in revenue compared with $6.7 billion in the year-ago quarter and the $6.25 billion Street consensus. The company reported cloud and cognitive software revenue \u2014 which includes its Red Hat unit \u2014 of $5.6 billion compared with $5.28 billion a year ago, while analysts had been expecting $5.48 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Global business services revenue was $4 billion, compared with $4.12 billion a year ago, and Street forecasts of $3.9 billion. Systems revenue was $1.3 billion, compared with $1.48 billion a year ago and analyst expectations of $1.55 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the year, IBM shares are down 6%, compared with a 1% decline by the Dow Jones Industrial Average\u00a0\u00a0DJIA,\u00a0-0.37%,\u00a0and versus a 6% rise by the S&P 500 index\u00a0\u00a0SPX,\u00a0-0.48%\u00a0and a 28% gain by the Nasdaq Composite Index\u00a0\u00a0COMP,\u00a0-0.82%.<\/p>\n\n\n If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
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