International Business Machines Corp, which has spent the past year cutting costs and accelerating its shift to more profitable services and software, said on Tuesday it now expects profit of at least $11 a share in 2010 compared with its previous target of $10 to $11 per share.
"IBM is just a machine. Throughout the downturn, they have provided consistent results and this is no different," said Andy Miedler, an analyst with Edward Jones. The shares, however, fell slightly after-hours. They had risen nearly 60 percent over the past year, and had finished 1.79 percent higher on Tuesday at $134.14.
The company said its fourth-quarter profit rose 9 percent to $4.8 billion, or $3.59 a share, from $4.4 billion, or $3.27 a share, a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected a profit of $3.47 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Quarterly revenue rose 1 percent to $27.2 billion, it said. The average forecast on Wall Street was for revenue of $27.0 billion. Total gross profit margin rose to 48.3 percent, up 0.4 points.