IBM First Quarter Net Income Up 15 Percent
Wednesday April 18 6:44 PM ET
By Nicole Volpe
NEW YORK (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news) on Wednesday reported a 15 percent rise in first-quarter net income, helped by strong sales of powerful business computers, microelectronics and services.
In stark contrast to rivals that have consistently warned of disappointing results, the world's largest computer maker said that, while not immune to spending cutbacks, it still expected to meet its sales and earnings targets for 2001.
``Everyone else across the board is pulling in the reins, so this certainly is positive,'' said Rob Schafer, an analyst at Meta Group.
The company said first-quarter net income rose to $1.75 billion, or 98 cents per share, compared with $1.52 billion, or 83 cents per share, a year earlier.
Analysts had expected earnings in a range of 89 cents to $1.02, with an average estimate of 98 cents, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. |
