International Business Machines Corp.’s (NYSE:IBM) shares declined after the company reported first-quarter profit that missed estimates.
The stock dropped 6.7% to US$150.15 at 10:22 a.m.
The computing giant said yesterday after the market close that net income fell to US$1.68bln, or US$1.82 a share, from US$1.75bln, or US$1.86 a share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were $2.35 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet estimated adjusted earnings of $2.42 a share. Revenue advanced to US$19.07bln from US$18.16bln.
The company also reiterated its forecast of earnings per share of US$13.80 for the full year.
IBM has been betting on new growth markets such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence to offset declining demand for its legacy businesses such as storage and mainframe computers. The company’s so-called strategic imperatives businesses – cloud, security and analytics – accounted for 47% of the firm’s total revenue in the quarter.