Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Issues 2012
Candidates 2012
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Trayvon Martin's killer showed signs of injury: neighbors
16 Apr 2012
Buffett rule fails Senate vote in tax fight
16 Apr 2012
Sleepy Air Canada pilot thought Venus was a plane
16 Apr 2012
Exclusive: Briton killed after threat to expose Chinese leader's wife: sources
|
16 Apr 2012
Karzai says NATO failed as 18-hour Kabul attack ends
|
1:17am EDT
Discussed
131
Obama paid 20.5 pct tax rate in 2011: White House
106
North Korea launches rocket amid international condemnation
96
Big gap between races in U.S. on Trayvon Martin killing
Watched
Shuttle Discovery prepares for final mission ... over U.S. capitol.
Mon, Apr 16 2012
Transgender beauty says she wants to compete for Miss Universe
Tue, Apr 3 2012
Exclusive new details of Bo Xilai murder scandal
Mon, Apr 16 2012
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Inside North Korea
Rare scenes from within the reclusive state. Slideshow
Tornado devastation
Dozens of tornadoes tear through the Plains states. Slideshow
IBM may raise full-year software demand forecast
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Oracle says Google's own emails show its guilt
Mon, Apr 16 2012
Infosys' slower revenue growth outlook slams shares
Fri, Apr 13 2012
Exclusive: China's ZTE planned U.S. computer sale to Iran
Tue, Apr 10 2012
Google proposes Android revenue for Oracle: filing
Wed, Mar 28 2012
Wall Street dips, but winners gain as quarter's end near
Tue, Mar 27 2012
Analysis & Opinion
Stop conflating microfinance and entrepreneurship
Press round-up – April 11
Related Topics
Tech »
Media »
An IBM Central Processor Unit (CPU) is seen on a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) controller in Kiev, March 5, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Gleb Garanich
By Nicola Leske
Mon Apr 16, 2012 5:52pm EDT
(Reuters) - IBM Corp (IBM.N) reports earnings after the bell on Tuesday and investors are hoping strong software demand will make for a repeat of last year's first-quarter performance, when the company raised its full year forecast.
After Oracle Corp's (ORCL.O) strong first-quarter software sales and outsourcing firm Accenture Plc's (ACN.N) positive outlook on IT spending, there is a chance that IBM - which competes with both companies - may raise its full year outlook. Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu wrote in a recent note that there was a "fair likelihood" IBM would "modestly raise" its outlook.
Software represents IBM's most important division and biggest growth driver and includes everything from data analytics that help forecast and fight crime to software that manages infrastructure.
IBM, which dumped its PC business in 2004 to concentrate on consulting and services, has squarely focused on software as a means to provide the foundation for its growth strategy. The company proved that once again on Monday, with the Nikkei business daily reporting it sold its point-of-sale (POS) terminal business, which includes cash registers and related devices, to Toshiba Corp (6502.T) for 70 billion yen ($870.86 million).
IBM declined to comment.
IBM's software business generated 44 percent of its pre-tax profit last year and the company has said it will contribute 50 percent to its segment profit by 2015.
IBM has said it expects to reach an operating EPS of at least $14.85 this year compared with analysts' forecasts of $14.94, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. In the first quarter, analysts expect IBM to post an operating EPS of $2.65 and sales of $24.8 billion.
The thinking behind IBM's strategy is that specialized software is of higher value and will result in higher margins, keeping IBM firmly on track to reach its earnings per share goal of $20 by 2015.
Sterne Agee's Wu agrees, saying IBM's strategy of marrying IT with software and services "has given it strategic and structural advantages."
Improving demand for branded middleware - a software that facilitates integration of applications or end devices and servers - and continued momentum in analytics could make software the stand-out division this quarter and this year for IBM, according to Goldman Sachs.
IBM competes with business software makers Oracle Corp and SAP AG (SAPG.DE) as well as Hewlett Packard Co (HPQ.N).
IBM's services business, its second-largest unit, is expected to be stable given rival Accenture's strong quarter and optimistic outlook. That is good news for investors considering that outsourcing competitors Infosys Ltd (INFY.NS) and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (CTSH.O) had warned that customers were spending less.
The services unit incorporates PriceWaterhouseCoopers consulting business, which IBM bought in 2002. It generated 42 percent of the company's pre-tax profit in 2011.
IBM's smallest division, its mainframe business, is expected to continue to show declining revenue in the first half of 2012. But rising demand for storage should boost the business near-term, Goldman Sachs said.
"We believe a new mainframe cycle and remarkably easy comparisons could produce healthy revenue and profit growth in the second half," Goldman Sachs said.
Stifel Nicolaus' David Grossman said IBM may even be taking server business away from HP and Oracle.
"In hardware, HP and Oracle posted weak January and February quarters, respectively, which we believe at least partially reflects competitive displacements by IBM," Grossman said, adding that IBM would likely benefit from an ongoing infrastructure build-out in emerging markets.
IBM trades at 13.2 times estimated 12 month forward earnings, according to StarMine, which gives more weight to timelier forecasts and those from the historically most accurate analysts. By comparison, Oracle and HP are valued at 10.9 and 5.8, respectively.
As it has done historically, IBM's Chief Financial Officer Mark Loughridge will run the company's earnings call and not new Chief Executive Virginia Rometty, who made headlines last week for attending the Masters golf tournament, hosted by the Augusta National Golf Club - a men's only club.
IBM is one of the sponsors of the tournament and its CEOs have traditionally been granted membership to the exclusive club, but so far Augusta chairman Billy Payne has refused to say whether it would change its policy for Rometty.
(Reporting By Nicola Leske; editing by Peter Lauria and Andre Grenon)
Tech
Media
Related Quotes and News
Company
Price
Related News
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.