PREVIEW: IBM shares drop ahead of quarterly earnings report

Hashicorp

24/07/2024 19:39

** Shares of International Business Machines  IBM.N  fall
0.37% to $183.42 on Wed ahead of its quarterly report due after
the closing bell, with analysts expecting tepid spending on IT
consulting
        ** IBM has faced slow 
    demand
     for services such as consulting, as high inflation and
interest rates have forced customers to put the brakes on
spending
  
    ** Wall Street analysts expect IBM to report rev of $15.6
bln, up 0.91% from a year ago, as well as EPS of $2.20 vs $2.18
a year ago
    ** IBM's rev has met analyst expectations 5 times over the
last 8 quarters, while EPS had met estimates every time in the
same period
    ** Analysts are likely to focus on IBM's generative AI
business that is powered by its Watsonx AI platform, which is
currently seeing strong demand from customers
    ** Among the 22 analysts that cover IBM, the median PT is
$190 and the avg rating is "buy" - with the breakdown of
recommendations are 10 "strong buy" or "buy," 9 "hold" and 3
"sell" or "strong sell"
    ** IBM options imply a 6.1% swing for the shares, in either
direction, by Friday, well above the stock's 8-qtr post earnings
1-day avg move of 4.9%, according to Trade Alert
    ** IBM share are up ~13% YTD vs 24% gain in the S&P 500
technology sector index  .SPLRCT 

 (Reporting by Chibuike Oguh and Saqib Ahmed in New York)
 ((Chibuike.Oguh@thomsonreuters.com; +332-219-1834; Reuters
Messaging: chibuike.oguh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))