The five and half year streak of failing revenue continues for IBM, as the tech giant racks up a 22nd consecutive quarter of decline in Q3 of 2017.
Despite the streak continuing, IBM almost clambered out of the deepening pit by achieving $19.15 billion in revenue, beating analyst predictions of $18.6 billion, according to Reuters.
Posting strong earnings per share, IBM experienced a three per cent share price rise, peaking at five per cent.
IBM’s strong results beat analyst expectations according to Thomson Reuters, gaining $3.30 in earnings per share, as opposed to a predicted $3.28.
This achievement lines the company up to end the calendar year strong with $13.80 in earning per share, again beating analyst predictions of $13.75 reported by Reuters.
Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer, said: “In the third quarter we achieved double-digit growth in our strategic imperatives, extended our enterprise cloud leadership, and expanded our cognitive solutions business… There was enthusiastic adoption of IBM’s new Z Systems mainframe, which delivers breakthrough security capabilities to our clients.”
The Z mainframe was released targeting the current and critical problem of security, providing data encryption at every level of the network, according the company.
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Martin Schroeter, IBM senior vice president and chief financial officer, said: “During the first three quarters of the year, our strong free cash flow has enabled us to maintain our R&D investments and to expand IBM’s cloud and cognitive capabilities through capital investments… In addition, we have returned nearly $8 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.”
IBM has continued to be a driving force in developing and integrating somewhat nascent technologies poised to disrupt traditional processes. A central example of this is the company’s work with blockchain, now working to use the technology in conjunction with a cryptocurrency to enhance cross-border transactions.
