IBM shares fall after slow revenue growth in third quarter
IBM shares fell almost 4% after its third quarter results were announced as investors worried about cancelled IT projects and slower spending on technology.
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IBMshares fell almost 4% after its third quarter results were announced as investors worried about cancelled IT projects and slower spending on technology.
The company's sales for the third quarter of 2011 were $26.2bn, up 8% compared with the same period in 2010. Profit was $3.8bn for the quarter, compared with $3.6bn in 2010 - an increase of 7%. Sales from Europe, the Middle East and Africa were up 9% at $8bn.
Samuel Palmisano, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer, said sales were boosted by growth in emerging markets, as well as strong results in its Smarter Planet, business analytics and cloud services.
Smarter Planet sales were up 50% year-on-year, business analytics sales were up 19% year-on-year and cloud sales doubled compared with full-year 2010 sales.
"In the third quarter, we drove revenue growth, margin expansion and increased earnings as a result of our innovation-based strategy and continued investment in growth initiatives," said Palmisano.
Despite strong growth in emerging markets, IBM shares fell nearly 4% in after-hours trading in New York after profits failed to meet Wall Street expectations, the Financial Times reported.
The BBC suggested slower technology spending and cancelled IT projects were leading to a share sell-off among investors.
IBM's services sales increased 8%. The company's software sales were up 13% to $5.8bn, and hardware sales rose 4% to $4.5bn.
IBM has raised its 2011 full-year operating earnings per share expectations to at least $13.35, from $13.25.
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