IBM beats the Street

[notiCIas]

IBM beats the Street 

No. 1 computer maker reports sales and earnings ahead of expectations; stock higher after-hours.
January 18, 2005: 4:49 PM EST

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp. Tuesday posted a quarterly net profit that beat Wall Street's recently raised profit target as solid year-end product sales were buoyed by a weaker U.S. dollar.

IBM (Research) shares rose 0.6 percent in after-hours trade on the news to $95.50, as investors said the results were resoundingly strong.

"The earnings per share numbers were great. They even beat the highest 'whisper' number. It looks like earnings were solid from top to bottom," said Steve Neimeth, a portfolio manager for AIG SunAmerica who owns more than 100,000 IBM shares. "As a bellwether for the industry, other technology stocks should rally on these earnings."

   
IBM reported net income of $3.1 billion, or $1.81 a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $2.71 billion, or $1.56 a share, a year earlier.

Revenue from continuing operations in the quarter was $27.7 billion, up from $25.9 billion a year earlier.

Analysts on average were looking for the world's largest computer company, based in Armonk, New York, to report earnings around $1.76 a share on revenue of $27.5 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Wall Street's profit forecasts, which ranged between $1.74 and $1.78 a share, had inched up in recent weeks as analysts boosted their numbers to reflect the positive effect on earnings of translating overseas sales into U.S. dollars.

"IBM delivered a powerful fourth quarter, reflecting the strength of our integrated business model," IBM Chairman and Chief Executive Sam Palmisano said of the company's mix of computers, software and technical services businesses.

[notiCIas]

AMD posts 4Q loss 

Chipmaker reports a quarterly loss from a year-ago profit following last week's warning.
January 18, 2005: 4:34 PM EST

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. on Tuesday reported a quarterly loss from a year-earlier profit following a reduced forecast it gave last week.

The loss in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 26 was $30 million, or 8 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $43.2 million, or 12 cents a share. Sales rose to $1.26 billion from $1.21 billion in the same period last year.

Shares of AMD (Research) ended Tuesday's trading up 34 cents, or 2.2 percent, at $15.50.