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IBM

International Business Machines Corporation

5/24/2013, 4:58 AM ET

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Thursday, May 23, 3:11 PM Chatter says trading desks are busy with corporate buyback activity today as CFOs take advantage of a little selling to put repurchase plans into action. AAPL is the gorilla, having bumped its authorization to $60B from $10B. Others of note include: LyondellBasel (LYB), Merck (MRK) - which just entered an accelerated repurchase program, NetApp (NTAP), Northrop Grumman (NOC), Macy's (M), and Delta (DAL). There's also IBM - long with a reputation for issuing debt at lows in yield. Is their equity timing as good? 6 Comments
Thursday, May 16, 12:16 PM Cisco JV partner EMC (EMC +4.5%) joins the list of companies rallying in response to Cisco's FQ3 beat and guidance. Cisco mentioned on its earnings call integrated hardware solutions such as Vblock (offered by the Cisco/EMC VCE JV) are driving demand for its UCS servers - Cisco's UCS unit saw 77% Y/Y rev. growth. All in all, it's a good day for enterprise IT names, who are happy to receive some good earnings news after getting plenty of bad news (I, II, III, IV). HPQ +1.7%. IBM +1.3%. ORCL +1.3%. VMW +2.6%. TIBX +4.1%. CTXS +3.9%. CRM +3.8%. JIVE +4.1%. NTGR +2.7%. CVLT +2.6%. INFA +3%. (others rallying: I, II) 1 Comment [Tech, On the Move]
Friday, May 3, 9:35 AM The DOJ has launched a bribery probe on IBM (IBM +0.9%) regarding corruption allegations in Poland, Bangladesh, Argentina, and Ukraine, the company discloses in its Q1 10-Q. The probe comes on top of an SEC bribery case against IBM's activities in China and South Korea, which Big Blue is trying to settle. Separately, Warren Buffett says he won't be selling his IBM shares, and may buy more "from time to time." (Microsoft investigation) 8 Comments [Tech]
Wednesday, May 1, 5:53 PM Talks between IBM and Lenovo (LNVGY.PK) regarding the sale of IBM's x86 server business have broken down, sources tell Fortune. Lenovo reportedly balked over IBM's asking price - according to one CRN source, it was around $5B-$6B - for the business, which had an estimated $4.9B in 2012 sales and saw a 9% Y/Y revenue drop in Q1. Regardless of the specific price, Lenovo (current market cap of $10.4B) would have a tough time digesting the unit. (prior reports: I, II) 2 Comments [Tech, M&A]
Tuesday, April 30, 10:49 AM IBM (IBM +0.8%) is raising its quarterly dividend by $0.10/share, or 12%, to $0.95/share, and increasing its buyback authorization by $5B to $11.2B. Big Blue's yield is now at 1.9%, and its buyback authorization is now good for repurchasing 5.1% of shares at current levels. IBM carried out $2.6B in buybacks in Q1 - its EPS miss would've been much worse without them. The company notes it has raised its dividend 18 years in a row and lowered its share count by a third since 2000, and says it expects to request another authorization at its Oct. board meeting. (PR) 5 Comments [Tech, Breaking News, Dividends]
Thursday, April 25, 7:40 AM IBM has "reassigned" Rodney Adkins, until now the head of its hardware and chip ops, following a dismal Q1 for the business, the WSJ reports. Tom Rosamilia, IBM's VP of corporate strategy and GM of enterprise initiatives, is said to have replaced him. Adkins' division saw a 17% Y/Y sales drop in Q1, headlined by a 32% drop in high-end Power server sales. Big Blue blamed the weakness on execution, but many suspect IT demand and/or industry trends are also responsible. The WSJ's scoop follows multiple reports claiming IBM's x86 server unit (-9% in Q1) is on sale. Comment! [Tech]
Monday, April 22, 12:32 PM IBM has acquired UrbanCode, a developer of tools for speeding up and automating the delivery of a variety of apps. IBM asserts UrbanCode's products, which will be integrated with its sizable Rational app development tool unit (competes with Microsoft, Oracle, and Borland) serve as "a natural extension" of its DevOps strategy, which aims to speed up and simplify enterprise app development. Big Blue also claims synergies with its SmartCloud and MobileFirst initiatives, which respectively encompass a huge array of cloud and mobile products/services. (PR) Comment! [Tech, M&A]
Friday, April 19, 6:51 PM "We suspect accelerating adoption of cloud computing is at the very least creating some delays as customers assess options," writes CLSA's Ed Maguire, discussing IBM's (IBM -8.3%) Q1 hardware troubles. Of course, concerns about the impact of the technology preferences of Internet/cloud providers on IT hardware giants are nothing new. ZDNet's Larry Dignan sees IBM's reported interest in selling its x86 server business as evidence IBM recognizes the x86 market is getting commoditized, and that it only makes sense to offer proprietary hardware. But even there, a long-term migration to cloud infrastructures presents a challenge. Comment! [Tech]
Friday, April 19, 9:55 AM IBM (IBM -6.5%) would've missed Q1 EPS estimates by $0.34, rather than $0.05, if not for a lower tax rate, says BMO's Keith Bachman. Like others, Bachman is skeptical Big Blue's woes are solely due to execution, given weak results from peers (one can now add SAP to the list). "We think demand was perhaps weaker than we and the companies thought." Sterne Agee, however, is staying bullish precisely because it doesn't consider IBM's issues company-specific. Meanwhile, the WSJ is backing up CRN's report about the relatively low-margin x86 server unit being on sale. Morgan Stanley estimates the unit had 2012 sales of $4.9B. (previous) (transcript) 9 Comments [Tech, On the Move, Earnings]
Thursday, April 18, 6:18 PM More on IBM's CC: Management stressed execution (particularly related to closing deals), rather than macro, is the main culprit for the Q1 miss. However, U.S. federal sales (a problem for many) fell 13% Y/Y, and China was also weak (leadership transition blamed). Free cash flow was $1.7B, down $200M Y/Y partly due to tax issues. $1B in "workforce rebalancing charges" are expected this year, mostly outside the U.S. IBM refuses to comment on CRN's x86 server sale report, but does say it's evaluating asset sales. IBM is counting on expanded Linux support to lift slumping Power server sales. Over 4K PureSystems sold thus far. Update: The WSJ is now also reporting the x86 server unit is on the block. 1 Comment [Tech, Earnings]
Thursday, April 18, 5:11 PM More on IBM: Hardware was weak, division sales -17% Y/Y in Q1 (was -1% in Q4). On the CC (webcast), IBM partly blames a failure to close deals, while promising Q2 closings. System z (mainframes) +7% Y/Y, boosted by refresh. Power systems -32%. System x (reportedly on the block) -9%, storage -11%, chips -16%. Software was flat, also saw deal push-outs (Oracle can sympathize). Services -4% Y/Y, but backlog rose 1% Y/Y to $141B. Growth markets only +1% (+7% prior). Gross margin +100 bps to 46.7%. Weak yen hurt results. $2.6B in buybacks ($3B in Q4), lifting EPS. IBM -4.1% AH. (PR) Comment! [Tech, Earnings]
Thursday, April 18, 4:09 PM IBM (IBM): Q1 EPS of $3.00 misses by $0.05. Revenue of $23.41B (-5.1% Y/Y) misses by $1.28B. Continues to guide for 2013 EPS of at least $16.70 vs. consensus of $16.77. Shares -3.7% AH. CC at 4:30PM ET (webcast). (PR) 5 Comments [Tech, Earnings, On the Move, Breaking News, Top Stories]
Thursday, April 18, 1:53 PM IBM (IBM -0.8%) is in "active negotiations" to sell its x86 server business, and Lenovo (LNVGY.PK) is the frontrunner to buy it, "multiple sources" tell CRN. An industry exec claims IBM wants $5B-$6B, and likes the idea of selling to PC division buyer Lenovo, since it doesn't compete much with IBM elsewhere. A purchase of that size wouldn't be easy for Lenovo, give its market cap is only $8.6B. IBM, which reports after the close, saw its x86 sales fall 2% Y/Y in Q4, as white-label sales to Internet firms account for a growing share of industry revenue. Also: trade union reps claim IBM is thinking of cutting 1.2K-1.4K jobs in France over the next 2 years. 2 Comments [Tech, M&A]
Thursday, April 18, 7:49 AM It's set to be a heavyweight late afternoon for the tech sector, with Google (GOOG), IBM (IBM) and Microsoft (MSFT) due to release quarterly results. Google's Q1 EPS is expected to have risen to $10.69 from $10.08 while revenue is seen surging 72.5% to $14.04B. IBM's Q1 EPS is estimated to have increased to $3.05 from $2.78 as revenue edged up 0.1% to $24.69B. Microsoft's FQ3 EPS is seen growing to $0.68 from $0.60 and its revenue 18.1% to $20.56B. Comment! [Tech, Consumer, Earnings]
Thursday, April 18, 12:10 AM Notable earnings after Thursday’s close: ACTG, ALGN, AMD, BGS, CBST, CE, CMG, COF, CPHD, ETFC, GOOG, IBM, ISRG, LSCC, MSFT, RMBS, VMI, WIT Comment! [Earnings]
Wednesday, April 17, 5:35 PM Notable earnings after Thursday’s close: ACTG, ALGN, AMD, BGS, CBST, CE, CMG, COF, CPHD, ETFC, GOOG, IBM, ISRG, LSCC, MSFT, RMBS, VMI, WIT Comment! [Earnings]

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