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How IBM Managed To Beat The Street And Raise Its Outlook

IBM (IBM) reported third-quarter results late Wednesday that beat analyst expectations, as the tech giant's chief boosted the company's full-year revenue outlook. IBM stock jumped on the news.

The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.81 a share on revenue of $14.1 billion. Analysts expected IBM to report adjusted earnings of $1.79 on revenue of $13.55 billion. according to FactSet.

Revenue climbed 4.6% from the year-ago period. About half of IBM's revenue comes from overseas. On a constant currency basis, revenue jumped 15%, the company said.

During morning trading on the stock market today, IBM  surged 4.8% to 128.40.

IBM Stock: Company Raises Revenue Outlook

"IBM delivered strong revenue growth in the quarter, reflecting our continued focus on the execution of our strategy," said Chief Executive Arvind Krishna, in written remarks. "With our year-to-date performance, we now expect full-year revenue growth above our mid-single digit model."

For its third quarter, IBM reported software revenue of $5.81 billion, up 7.5% and beating estimates of $5.54 billion. It reported consulting revenue of $4.7 billion, up 5.5% and also topping estimates. Cloud revenue climbed 11% to $5.2 billion.

Over the past decade, IBM has invested more than $120 billion in remaking the company. This includes $29 billion in capital expenditures for things like scaling its cloud operations and artificial intelligence offerings and bolstering its security and services capabilities.

"Both our revenue growth and operating profit profile for the first three quarters of the year align to the investment thesis we outlined last fall," IBM Chief Financial Officer James Kavanaugh said in written remarks. "Our portfolio mix, business fundamentals, strong recurring revenue stream and solid cash generation allow us to invest for continued growth and return value to shareholders through dividends."

IBM stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 73 out of a possible 99.

Please follow Brian Deagon on Twitter at @IBD_BDeagon for more on tech stocks, analysis and financial markets.

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