IBM Posts Fourth-Straight Quarterly Revenue Decline in Q4; Shares Slump By Investing.com

By Yasin Ebrahim

IBM (NYSE:IBM) reported on Thursday fourth quarter earnings that beat analysts’ forecasts, but revenue fell short of expectations and declined for the fourth-straight quarter.

IBM shares lost 7% in after-hours trade following the report.

IBM announced earnings per share of $2.07 on revenue of $20.37 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated EPS of $1.81 on revenue of $20.64 billion.

Cloud & cognitive software revenues dropped 5%, with cloud & data platforms up 9% led by Red Hat, which IBM acquired last summer in a $34 billion deal. Red Hat revenue rose 18%.

Global business services revenue slipped 3%, the global technology services revenue slid 6%, while systems revenue declined 18% to $2.5 billion.

For 2021, the company said it expects revenue growth and adjusted free cash flow of $11 billion to $12 billion in 2021.

IBM’s report follows an earnings beat by Taiwan Semiconductor on January 14, which reported EPS of $0.9851 on revenue of $12.93 billion, compared to forecasts EPS of $0.9362 on revenue of $12.85 billion.

Stay up-to-date on all of the upcoming earnings reports by visiting Investing.com’s earnings calendar