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Technology Stocks : Semi Equipment Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StanX Long who wrote (13059)	1/16/2004 12:00:59 AM
From: StanX Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95391

IBM Encouraged by Q4 Results Online staff -- Electronic News, 1/15/2004 Optimistic on the year ahead, IBM today reported that Q4 revenue grew 9 percent year-over-year at IBM, coming in at $25.9 billion. Earnings per share also saw growth, climbing 41 percent year-over-year to $1.56. The growth percentage was inflated, however, as Q4 2002 included the acquisition of PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting (PwCC). Without the PwCC charges, a 16 percent growth increase from Q4 2002 would have been recorded. "This was a very good quarter for IBM and an encouraging end to a year in which we steadily gained momentum and posted record revenues," Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "We had more than $17 billion in services signings, and good growth in our industry-leading server and WebSphere businesses. Most encouraging is that our On Demand strategy is today a reality -- it has entered the mainstream, and it is increasingly driving our business results." Revenues grew at double digits in four of IBM's six industry sectors in Q4, led by the largest sector, financial services, which grew at 17 percent year-over-year. "The company's performance would not be possible had we not made investments during the downturn and fundamentally repositioned IBM for leadership in the high-value enterprise space, which remains our sole focus," Palmisano continued. "We enter 2004 with good momentum. The client-buying environment is steadily improving. We are enthusiastic about our prospects for this year and beyond." Full-year 2003 numbers also showed year-over-year growth. Revenues totaled $89.1 billion, up 10 percent compared with 2002 revenues of $81.2 billion. Earnings per share was $4.34, compared with $3.07 after the 2002 charges of 88 cents per share, an increase of 41 percent. Without PwCC charges, earnings per share improved 10 percent year-over-year. IBM reported that revenues in all six of its industry sectors grew for the full year, with four of the sectors growing by double digits.