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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RR who wrote (35971)	4/18/2001 6:01:23 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Good news from IBM... _____________________________________________ Wednesday April 18 5:52 PM ET IBM Earnings Meet Expectations By BRUCE MEYERSON, AP Business Writer <<NEW YORK (AP) - IBM Corp. posted a 15 percent increase in first-quarter earnings, meeting Wall Street forecasts and maintaining a cautiously optimistic stance on the rest of 2001 despite the uncertain economic backdrop. Net income totaled $1.75 billion, or 98 cents per share, for the first three months of the year, up from $1.52 billion or 83 cents a share in the first quarter of 2000. IBM's report, released Wednesday afternoon, showed first-quarter revenues of $21.04 billion, an increase of 9 percent from $19.34 billion in the year-ago period. Management pointed to a strong showing in computer services, where revenues rose 21 percent, and the company's computer chip business. However, officials expressed some concern over the long-term outlook for IBM's desktop computers, computer monitors and hard drives. IBM's stock rose sharply in after-hours trading, jumping above $113 per share, after rising $6.80 to $106.50 before the report, taking part in a powerful market rally sparked by a surprise interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve (news - web sites). The results extended IBM's strong performance in the final quarter of 2000, when the company saw a 28 percent gain in profits compared with the pre-Y2K slowdown that hammered revenues in late 1999. The report also contrasted with the discouraging updates coming from other major technology companies and direct IBM competitors such as Hewlett-Packard, which earlier in the day reduced its earnings forecasts again and announced plans to cut up to 3,000 management jobs. Earlier this month, a rival maker of data storage systems, EMC Corp., warned of weak profits. IBM struck another distinctive note in standing by its outlook for the rest of 2001. In recent weeks, major technology players including Dell Computer and Cisco Systems have declined to offer any forecast for the second half of the year, insisting the surprising speed of the economic downturn made it impossible to provide any worthwhile guidance. ``We recognize that the U.S. market remains volatile and uncertain and it is likely some regions of this global market are feeling some of these pressures,'' John R. Joyce, IBM's chief financial officer, said in a conference call with industry analysts after the report. However, ``Our strategies are working despite the difficult economic environment,'' he said. ``We have not changed our opinion of full-year 2001. We remain on track for full-your consensus earnings per share estimates.''>>