Tuesday, April 17, 2018

IBM posts flat Q1 revenues, annual cloud sales at $17.7 billion pace

IBM reported Q1 2018 revenue of $19.1 billion, up 5 percent (flat adjusting for currency). GAAP EPS from continuing operations was $1.81 and operating (non-GAAP) EPS was $2.45, up 4 percent.

"In the first quarter we maintained momentum in our business, with reported revenue growth in total and across our major segments," said Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer. "These results reinforce that our clients value our innovative technologies, our industry expertise and our commitment and actions for the responsible stewardship of their privacy and data. This is also reflected in our leadership positions in enterprise cloud, AI and security."

Some highlights:

  • Strategic imperatives revenue over the last 12 months was $37.7 billion, up 12 percent (up 10 percent adjusting for currency). 
  • Total cloud revenue over the last 12 months was $17.7 billion, up 22 percent (up 20 percent adjusting for currency). 
  • The annual exit run rate for as-a-service revenue increased to $10.7 billion, up 25 percent (up 20 percent adjusting for currency). 
  • In the first quarter of 2018, revenues from analytics increased 9 percent (up 4 percent adjusting for currency); revenues from mobile increased 19 percent (up 14 percent adjusting for currency); and revenues from security increased 65 percent (up 60 percent adjusting for currency).

Segment Results for First Quarter

  • Cognitive Solutions (includes solutions software and transaction processing software) -- revenues of $4.3 billion, up 6 percent (up 2 percent adjusting for currency), driven by solutions software, including security, analytics, and industry platforms; and transaction processing software.
  • Global Business Services (includes consulting, global process services and application management) -- revenues of $4.2 billion, up 4 percent (down 1 percent adjusting for currency). Strategic imperatives revenue grew 12 percent led by the cloud consulting practice, with double-digit growth in analytics and mobile.
  • Technology Services & Cloud Platforms (includes infrastructure services, technical support services and integration software) -- revenues of $8.6 billion, up 5 percent (down 1 percent adjusting for currency). Strategic imperatives revenue grew 24 percent, driven by hybrid cloud services, security and mobile.
  • Systems (includes systems hardware and operating systems software) -- revenues of $1.5 billion, up 8 percent (up 4 percent adjusting for currency) driven by growth in IBM Z and Power.
  • Global Financing (includes financing and used equipment sales) -- revenues of $405 million, flat year to year (down 4 percent adjusting for currency).

Full-Year 2018 Expectatio