IBM sticks to its upbeat 2009 forecast
Written on February 28, 2009
IBM Corp. is standing by its surprisingly strong 2009 guidance, backing a $9.20-per-share profit forecast on momentum in emerging markets and services and software so far this year.
The Armonk, N.Y.-based company’s chief financial officer, Mark Loughridge, told a conference in San Francisco on Thursday that IBM is on track to hit its financial targets based on encouraging numbers from January.
IBM’s annual forecast, unveiled last month, stunned investors, coming in 45 cents per share ahead of analysts’ projections and at a time when other technology companies like Hewlett-Packard Co. and Intel Corp payday loan online. are cutting their forecasts.
IBM gets most of its profit from selling services and software to large companies. Those are two areas that have held up well because companies are locked into steady, annuity-like payments to IBM, and companies view investments in those areas as a way to save money. IBM’s hardware business, however, has been hurt by the recession.
Shares rose 3.07, or 3.6 percent, to close at $88.97.
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