Amended: corrects 8th paragraph to mean the total profit dropped, while profit per share climbed.
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) Thursday reported a lower profit for the first quarter, as revenues declined at its hardware and services division. Shares of IBM, a bellwether for the IT industry, slipped four percent following news, as earnings and revenues for the quarter missed Wall Street expectations. Despite the weak results, IBM maintained its full-year 2013 earnings guidance.
Big Blue's total revenues for the quarter dropped 5 percent to $23.41 billion from $24.67 billion a year ago. Surprisingly, IBM's reported revenues were more-than 1 billion short of analysts' expectations. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected revenues of $24.69 billion for the quarter.
Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Ginni Rometty said, "Despite a solid start and good client demand we did not close a number of software and mainframe transactions that have moved into the second quarter."
Geographically, Asia-Pacific revenues decreased 7 percent to $5.7 billion, hurt mainly by currency effects. Americas' revenues declined 4 percent to $10.0 billion, while Europe/Middle East/Africa were also down 4 percent to $7.3 billion.
Global technology services revenue decreased 4.3 percent to $9.61 billion, while global business services segment was down 3.3 percent to $4.48 million. IBM is the world's biggest computer services firm.
Systems and technology division revenue plunged 17.2 percent to $3.11 billion from $3.75 billion last year.
On a positive side, IBM's software revenue were almost flat at $5.57 billion compared to $5.60 billion.
Armonk, New York-based IBM's first-quarter profit was $3.03 billion versus $3.07 billion last year, while earnings per share was $2.70 per share, compared to $2.61 per share last year.
Excluding special items, earnings for the quarter improved to $3.00 per share from $2.78 per share last year, but still fell short of the $3.05 per share average estimate of Wall Street. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Gross profit margin for the quarter improved to 45.6 percent from 45.1 percent last year.
Meanwhile, IBM maintained its outlook for the full year 2013. The company expects earnings of at least $15.53 per share and operating earnings of at least $16.70 per share. Analysts currently expect earnings of $16.77 per share for 2013.
IBM closed Tuesday's trading at $207.15, down $2.52 or 1.20%, on a volume of 5.9 million shares. The stock further lost $8.50 or 4.10% in after hours.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.