Monday, July 19, 2021

IBM sees Q2 strength in hybrid cloud

 IBM reported revenues for the six-month period ended June 30, 2021 totaled $36.5 billion, an increase of 2 percent year to year (down 1 percent adjusting for divested businesses and currency) compared with $35.7 billion for the first six months of 2020. Net income was $2.3 billion, down 10 percent year to year. Diluted earnings per share was $2.52 compared with $2.83 per diluted share for the 2020 period, a decrease of 11 percent. Q2 revenue amounted to $18.7 billion, up 3 percent (flat adjusting for divested businesses and currency)

“In the second quarter client adoption of our hybrid cloud platform contributed to strong performance in Global Business Services and software and drove improved overall revenue growth. At the same time, we continued to help clients infuse our AI-based technology offerings into their core business workflows," said Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman and chief executive officer. "We are pleased with our progress and we remain on track to deliver full-year revenue growth and meet our cash flow objective.”

Some highlights for Q2:

  • Cloud & Cognitive Software (includes Cloud & Data Platforms, Cognitive Applications and Transaction Processing Platforms) —revenues of $6.1 billion, up 6.1 percent (up 2.5 percent adjusting for currency). Cloud & Data Platforms grew 12 percent (up 8 percent adjusting for currency), led by the company’s hybrid cloud platform and Cloud Pak growth. Cognitive Applications grew 12 percent (up 8 percent adjusting for currency), led by growth in Security and AI applications. Transaction Processing Platforms declined 7 percent (down 11 percent adjusting for currency). Cloud revenue up 29 percent (up 25 percent adjusting for currency).
  • Global Business Services (includes Consulting, Application Management and Global Process Services) — revenues of $4.3 billion, up 11.6 percent (up 7.3 percent adjusting for currency), with growth in Consulting, up 16 percent (up 11 percent adjusting for currency), Application Management up 5 percent (up 1 percent adjusting for currency) and Global Process Services up 28 percent (up 25 percent adjusting for currency). Cloud revenue up 35 percent (up 30 percent adjusting for currency). Gross profit margin declined 60 basis points.
  • Global Technology Services (includes Infrastructure & Cloud Services and Technology Support Services) — revenues of $6.3 billion, up 0.4 percent (down 4.1 percent adjusting for currency). Both Infrastructure & Cloud Services and Technology Support Services were flat (down 4 percent adjusting for currency). Cloud revenue down 1 percent (down 5 percent adjusting for currency). Gross profit margin up 110 basis points.
  • Systems (includes Systems Hardware and Operating Systems Software) — revenues of $1.7 billion, down 7.3 percent (down 10.2 percent adjusting for currency), driven by declines in IBM Z (down 11 percent; down 13 percent adjusting for currency) and Storage Systems (down 7 percent, down 10 percent adjusting for currency). Power systems declined 2 percent (down 5 percent adjusting for currency). Cloud revenue down 16 percent (down 19 percent adjusting for currency).
  • Global Financing (includes financing and used equipment sales) — revenues of $242 million, down 8.6 percent (down 11.6 percent adjusting for currency).