What Analysts Are Saying About IBM After Earnings

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 5:32AM EST · Published Jul 20, 7:45AM EDT

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What Analysts Are Saying About IBM After Earnings — © Thinkstock

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) posted mixed results when it reported earnings after the close on Monday. Although revenues have been slumping for the past 14 quarters or so, there were some bright points in this report. A few analysts keyed in on Big Blue after earnings and the sentiment was somewhat mixed.

24/7 Wall St. has included some of the key highlights from the earnings report, as well as what analysts are saying after the fact.

Big Blue said that it had earnings of $2.95 per share (EPS) on revenues of $20.2 billion. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters called for $2.89 in earnings per share on $20.03 billion in revenue. Its results in the same quarter a year ago were $3.84 EPS and $20.81 billion in revenue.

The revenue from the Strategic Imperatives segment increased 12% to $8.3 billion, and cloud revenue was $11.6 billion over the past 12 months. Another boost was that IBM’s cloud as-a-service annual run rate totaled $6.7 billion in the quarter, representing a gain of 50% looking back to this time last year. IBM further said that its Strategic Imperatives revenue reached $30.7 billion over the trailing 12 months and now represents right at 38% of IBM’s companywide revenues.

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The company generated net cash from operating activities of $3.4 billion, and that figure would have been $3.1 billion if excluding the company’s global financing receivables. IBM’s free cash flow was $2.1 billion in the second quarter.

Ginni Rometty, chair and chief executive officer of IBM, commented on the earnings:

In the second quarter we delivered double-digit revenue growth in our strategic imperatives, driven by innovations in areas such as analytics, security, cloud video services and Watson Health, all powered by the IBM Cloud and differentiated by industry. And we continue to invest for growth with recent breakthroughs in quantum computing, Internet of Things and Blockchain solutions for the IBM Cloud.

The day after earnings were reported analysts poured into Big Blue:

Societe Generale has a Sell rating with a $130 price target.
Jefferies has an Underperform rating with a $125 price target.
Deutsche Bank has a Hold rating with a $145 price target.
BMO Capital Markets has a Market Perform rating with a $165 price target.
Sanford Bernstein has a Market Perform rating with a $140 price target.
JMP Securities has a Market Outperform rating with a $172 price target.
Morgan Stanley has an Overweight rating with a $182 price target.
Goldman Sachs reiterated a Neutral rating with a $147 price target.
Credit Suisse reiterated an Underperform rating with a $110 price target.
Citigroup has a Neutral rating with a $160 price target.
JPMorgan reiterated a Hold rating.

Shares of IBM closed down fractionally at $159.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $144.90 and a 52-week trading range of $116.90 to $166.35.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.