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IBM

International Business Machines Corporation

6/18/2013, 7:45 PM ET

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Tuesday, June 18, 7:09 PM IBM is launching a slew of cloud apps/services it says are aimed at C-Suite execs, but is light on specifics. Big Blue says its SmartCloud Solutions portfolio now offers 100+ business functions for decision-making execs such as CFOs, CMOs, procurement/supply chain officers, and HR chiefs to leverage. A new social media analytics solution for CMOs (will compete against CRM's Radian6 and ORCL''s Collective Intellect) is among them. The announcement comes on the heels of IBM's ~$2B acquisition of cloud infrastructure provider SoftLayer, which the company plans to integrate with its SmartCloud unit. Comment! [Tech]
Wednesday, June 12, 2:31 PM IBM has begun laying off U.S. workers as part of its 2013 restructuring, Bloomberg reports. Big Blue stated in April it expects to record $1B in 2013 charges related to its job cuts, but didn't disclose how many employees would be affected. Oracle Research's Laurence Balter's estimates (based on the $1B figure) IBM is laying off 6K-8K workers, or less than 2% of its 434K-strong workforce. A decent portion of those cuts could happen in France. 5 Comments [Tech]
Monday, June 10, 7:16 PM Storage hardware sales are holding up only a little better than server sales: IDC estimates sales of standalone arrays fell 0.9% Y/Y in Q1, a reversal from growth of 2.3% and 4.7% in Q4 and 2012. Total storage sales (inc. server-attached gear) fell 3.2% after rising 0.7% in Q4. In the standalone market, IDC thinks #1 EMC had a 30.4% share (+140 bps Y/Y), #2 NetApp (NTAP) 14.9% (+80 bps), #3 IBM 10.9% (-50 bps thanks to a rough quarter), and #4 H-P (HPQ) 9.3% (-100 bps and also not faring well). Also: IDC thinks storage software sales rose 3.2% Y/Y in Q1. #1 EMC's share is pegged at 23.9%, #2 IBM's at 16.8%, and #3 Symantec's (SYMC) at 14.7%. CommVault (CVLT) and Veeam gained more share, growing 23% and 35% Y/Y. 5 Comments [Tech]
Friday, June 7, 12:10 PM IBM has successfully protested a $600M, 10-year deal granted by the CIA to Amazon Web Services (AMZN +3.6%) to develop a private cloud infrastructure: the GAO says the CIA didn't properly evaluate prices and waived a contract requirement. This means IBM, now set to acquire AWS rival SoftLayer, will have another chance to win the deal. Meanwhile, Forrester's James Staten argues IBM/SoftLayer will face integration challenges, due to their use of rival cloud platforms (IBM uses OpenStack, SoftLayer uses Citrix's (CTXS) CloudStack) and other issues. "SoftLayer ... has two separate portals and a mix of API sets ... IBM has long been accused of being well integrated only so long as you ask IBM Global Services to do the integration work." Comment! [Tech]
Wednesday, June 5, 10:05 AM SAP expands its cloud software arsenal by acquiring hybris, a top provider of e-commerce infrastructure software, for an undisclosed sum. The deal comes 8 months after SAP bought top B2B marketplace provider Ariba. SAP argues hybris' software, which covers Web, mobile, and in-store channels, will improve "customer insight and engagement" when paired with its Hana in-memory database and Jam social networking software. The deal could spell tougher competition for hybris rivals Demandware (DWRE -0.5%) and NetSuite (N -0.4%). SAP could also end up competing with IBM, which has been making acquisitions to bolster its Smarter Commerce initiative. Comment! [Tech, M&A]
Tuesday, June 4, 11:12 AM IBM paid ~$2B to acquire SoftLayer, Bloomberg and the NYT report. GigaOm notes the startup "could help bring order" to the "extremely messy legacy code" behind IBM's Smart Cloud offerings. An IBM exec claims SoftLayer provides needed expertise for supporting private and hybrid clouds, as IBM offers value-added software/services on top of basic infrastructure offerings. Will IBM/SoftLayer pose a challenge to Amazon Web Services (AMZN)? Like AWS, SoftLayer claims many Web/cloud firms as clients, and its support for hybrid server environments is a selling point. But it remains to be seen if IBM will match AWS' aggressive pricing. The purchase comes as IBM protests a $600M deal Amazon scored with the CIA. 5 Comments [Tech, M&A]
Tuesday, June 4, 9:46 AM IBM is acquiring web hosting/cloud infrastructure services firm SoftLayer for an undisclosed sum - with Reuters talking of a $2B+ deal price in March, there's a good chance the price tag is in ten digits. The deal represents a big expansion of IBM's cloud services push - IBM says it will create a new Cloud Services unit that combines SoftLayer with the company's SmartCloud unit. SoftLayer already claims 21K customers over 13 data centers, and IBM promises to expand its offerings to cover the OpenStack platform (previous). Rackspace (RAX -2.1%), a SoftLayer rival, top OpenStack proponent, and one-time subject of an IBM M&A rumor, is lower. Comment! [Tech, M&A]
Wednesday, May 29, 2:09 PM Global server sales fell 5% Y/Y in Q1, says Gartner. That's a reversal from Q4's 5% growth, and evidence of both weak IT spending and a shift towards cheaper hardware. #1 IBM, whose hardware unit had an ugly Q1, saw its revenue share fall 250 bps Y/Y to 25.5%. #2 H-P (HPQ), hurt by crumbling Itanium server demand, saw its share fall 280 bps to 25%, and #5 Oracle (ORCL), hit hard by plunging UNIX server sales, saw a 130 bps drop to 4.6%. But #3 Dell's (DELL) share rose 310 bps to 18%, and Cisco (CSCO) cracked the unit share top-5 at 2.3%. The buying habits of Internet companies led non-top-5 vendors to make up 22% of sales, up 370 bps. Sales of x86 servers (mostly INTC-based) grew 1.8%, down from Q4's 6.6%. (IDC's Q4 data) 3 Comments [Tech]
Tuesday, May 28, 7:20 AM Patent troll Acacia Research (ACTG) announces its Business Process Modeling Solutions subsidiary has entered into a license agreement with IBM resolving litigation pending in U.S. District Court in Texas. (PR) 4 Comments [Tech]
Saturday, May 25, 4:15 PM Apple's (AAPL) effective tax rate of 14% is just a smidgin lower than IBM at 15% and Google (GOOG) at 17%. And Apple's hardly on the lowest rung: Amazon's (AMZN) rate is just 6%, Ford's (F) 3%, and Carnival's (CCL) just 1%. In trying to untangle what S&P 500 companies pay in taxes, David Leonhardt finds top executives are exceptionally shrewd at holding tax rates down. (infographic) 35 Comments
Friday, May 24, 5:37 AM IBM (IBM) CFO Mark Loughridge has forecast that the company's earnings will rise 8% Y/Y this quarter, which would be in line with market expectations. The prediction suggests that EPS will increase to about $3.79 from $3.51 last year. Loughridge reiterated that H2 growth will be stronger, with "double-digit performance" in Q4. Meanwhile, IBM will reportedly lay off 270 people in the U.K. and Ireland. Comment! [Tech]
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]

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