Earnings-outlook spry at 100-year-old IBM

July 19, 2011 | 10:00

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Technology stalwart IBM started its second-century in business with a rise in quarterly earnings and an improved outlook for the year.

IBM on Monday reported a net income of $3.7 billion on total revenue of $26.7 billion for the recently-ended quarter in a showing that topped the same period last year on both counts.

"In the second quarter our long-term strategic investments in the company's growth initiatives again helped drive strong revenue performance," IBM chief executive Samuel Palmisano said in a release.

"As IBM begins its second century, we continue a process of transformation, positioning the company to lead in the future," he continued.

IBM saw strong revenue growth in its hardware, software and online services businesses, according to Palmisano.

Earnings momentum in the past two quarters encouraged IBM to raise its forecast for how much money the company will make for shareholders this year.

IBM stock price rose nearly two per cent to $178.12 in after-hours trading.

While its ancestry stretches back to the 19th century, IBM dates its birth to the June 16, 1911 merger of three firms: the Tabulating Machine Co., the International Time Recording Co. and the Computing Scale Co. of America.

Thomas Watson Sr., the man credited with building IBM into a powerhouse, joined the new company, Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. (CTR) in 1914 and renamed it International Business Machines Corp. in 1924.

Over the years, rivals have mocked IBM's corporate culture of conformity but that has not stopped the Armonk, New York, company from being at the forefront of technological innovation.

AFP

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