After the Bell: IBM Inches Up, Novellus Dips
Monday April 14, 5:13 pm ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - News) rose slightly in after-hours trading on Monday after the company reported its first gain in quarterly earnings in almost two years.
Shares of Armonk, New York-based IBM, which sells everything from computer services to giant mainframes to software, rose to $81.24, according to Instinet, from a close of $80.07.
Among other stocks, Novellus Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:NVLS - News), the third-largest U.S. maker of microchip production tools, fell to $26.16 from a close of $27.35, after reporting a significant drop in forecasted bookings in the past two weeks. The company earlier said profit rose in line with forecasts as sales rebounded 40 percent from a year ago.
IBM reported first-quarter net income of 79 cents per share, up from 68 cents per share a year earlier. Analysts had expected the company to report earnings of 80 cents per share, according to research firm Multex.
IBM said its earnings gain was helped by cost cuts and the closure of some old chip-making facilities.
The Nasdaq after-hours indicator, a measure of investor sentiment, fell 1.08 points, or 0.1 percent, after the bell on Monday.
During the regular session, stocks rallied after solid earnings reports from financial companies such as Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - News) eased investors' worries about corporate America's health.
The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average (CBOT:^DJI - News) shot up 147.69 points, or 1.8 percent, to 8,351.10, just a touch below its high for the day of 8,351.94. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 (CBOE:^SPX - News) added 16.93 points, or 1.95 percent, to 885.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index (NasdaqSC:^IXIC - News) gained 26.10 points, or 1.92 percent, to 1,384.95.
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