IBM Earnings: Upside Surprise Win Against Analysts

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) exceeded Wall Street’s profit and revenue expectations, igniting investor interest. Shares are up 2.69%.

Start 2013 better than ever by saving time and making money with your Limited Time Offer for our highly-acclaimed Stock Picker Newsletter. Click here for our fresh Feature Stock Pick now!

International Business Machines Corp. Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Net income increased 11.11% to $6.1 billion ($5.39 per diluted share) in the quarter versus a net gain of $5.49 billion in the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Decreased 0.63% to $29.3 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: International Business Machines Corp. reported adjusted net income of $5.39 per share. By that measure, the company beat the mean analyst estimate of $5.25. It beat the average revenue estimate of $29.09 billion.

Quoting Management:

“We achieved record profit, earnings per share and free cash flow in 2012. Our performance in the fourth quarter and for the full year was driven by our strategic growth initiatives — growth markets, analytics, cloud computing, Smarter Planet solutions — which support our continued shift to higher-value businesses,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer…