IBM Hits a Single after Years at Bat

January 20, 2018

IBM reported revenue growth. The company’s news release may have been subject to a staff cutback. Here’s the message I saw when I tried to read the official news release:

image

I wonder if IBM’s cloud business offers the stability and reliability of offerings from Amazon, Google, or Microsoft.

The Poughkeepsie Journal was happy. I learned:

On Thursday, IBM reported fourth-quarter 2017 total revenue of $22.5 billion, up 4 percent from $21.8 billion the same quarter in 2016.

Growth is good. Better than a loss. However, where did the growth originate? From Harrod’s Creek, mainframes took a deep breath, put those ageing legs in motion, and managed to get on base.

Mainframes!

Strategic imperatives made a contribution, strike out king IBM Watson, which may be headed to the Louisville Bats, managed about three percent growth.

ZDNet observed:

IBM’s fourth quarter topped expectations and strategic imperative businesses were solid, but Big Blue’s annual revenue is down for the 7th consecutive year.

Back out money made from currency, and Big Blue’s fourth quarter sales were up one percent.

Ginni Rometty, IBM CEO, is quoted as saying:

IBM strengthened our position as the leading enterprise cloud provider and established IBM as the blockchain leader for business. Looking ahead, we are uniquely positioned to help clients use data and AI to build smarter businesses.

Presumably she did not have to access the company’s Web site for the quarterly news release.

The company’s shares went down. That’s confidence.

Stephen E Arnold, January 20, 2018

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