IBM julkisti vuoden 2019 ensimmäisen vuosineljänneksen tulokset

"Our results reflect the fundamental changes we have made to our business, allowing us to generate greater operating leverage.  In the first quarter, we significantly expanded profit margins, led by our services businesses," said James Kavanaugh, IBM senior vice president and chief financial officer.  "Our focus on prioritizing our investments in the emerging high-value segments of our industry has enabled us to drive higher profitability and strong cash generation."

Cash Flow and Balance Sheet

In the first quarter, the company generated net cash from operating activities of $4.8 billion, or $2.3 billion, excluding Global Financing receivables.  IBM’s free cash flow was $1.7 billion.  IBM returned $2.3 billion to shareholders through $1.4 billion in dividends and $0.9 billion in gross share repurchases.  At the end of March 2019, IBM had $2.4 billion remaining in the current share repurchase authorization.

IBM ended the first quarter with $18.1 billion of cash on hand.  Debt totaled $50.0 billion, including Global Financing debt of $29.5 billion.  The balance sheet remains strong and is well positioned for the long term.

Segment Results for First Quarter

• Cloud & Cognitive Software (includes cloud and data platforms, cognitive applications and transaction processing platforms) -- revenues of $5.0 billion, down 2 percent (up 2 percent adjusting for currency), led by cognitive applications, up 2 percent (up 4 percent adjusting for currency), and by cloud and data platforms, down 2 percent (up 2 percent adjusting for currency).
• Global Business Services (includes consulting, application management and global process services) -- revenues of $4.1 billion, flat year to year (up 4 percent adjusting for currency), with growth in consulting and global process services.  Gross profit margin increased 280 basis points.
• Global Technology Services (includes infrastructure and cloud services and technology support services) -- revenues of $6.9 billion, down 7 percent (down 3 percent adjusting for currency), with growth in hybrid cloud revenue.  Gross profit margin increased 110 basis points.
• Systems (includes systems hardware and operating systems software) -- revenues of $1.3 billion, down 11 percent (down 9 percent adjusting for currency), with growth in Power, offset by the impact of the IBM Z product cycle dynamics and weakness in Storage.
• Global Financing (includes financing and used equipment sales) -- revenues of $406 million, flat year to year (up 4 percent adjusting for currency).

Full-Year 2019 Expectations

The company continues to expect GAAP diluted earnings per share of at least $12.45, and operating (non-GAAP) diluted earnings per share of at least $13.90.  Operating (non-GAAP) diluted earnings per share exclude $1.45 per share of charges for: amortization of purchased intangible assets and other acquisition-related charges, including pre-closing charges, such as financing costs, associated with the Red Hat acquisition; retirement-related charges; and tax reform enactment impacts.

IBM continues to expect free cash flow of approximately $12 billion, with a realization rate of approximately 100 percent of GAAP Net Income.

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements contained in this release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements are based on the company’s current assumptions regarding future business and financial performance.  These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including the following: a downturn in economic environment and client spending budgets; the company’s failure to meet growth and productivity objectives; a failure of the company’s innovation initiatives; damage to the company’s reputation; risks from investing in growth opportunities; failure of the company’s intellectual property portfolio to prevent competitive offerings and the failure of the company to obtain necessary licenses; cybersecurity and data privacy considerations; fluctuations in financial results, impact of local legal, economic, political and health conditions; adverse effects from environmental matters, tax matters and the company’s pension plans; ineffective internal controls; the company’s use of accounting estimates; the company’s ability to attract and retain key employees and its reliance on critical skills; impacts of relationships with critical suppliers; product quality issues; impacts of business with government clients; currency fluctuations and customer financing risks; impact of changes in market liquidity conditions and customer credit risk on receivables; reliance on third party distribution channels and ecosystems; the company’s ability to successfully manage acquisitions, alliances and dispositions, including integration challenges, failure to achieve objectives, the assumption of liabilities, and higher debt levels; legal proceedings and investigatory risks; risk factors related to IBM securities; and other risks, uncertainties and factors discussed in the company’s Form 10-Qs, Form 10-K and in the company’s other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or in materials incorporated therein by reference. Any forward-looking statement in this release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. The company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Presentation of Information in this Press Release

In an effort to provide investors with additional information regarding the company’s results as determined by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the company has also disclosed in this press release the following non-GAAP information, which management believes provides useful information to investors:

IBM results --

• presenting operating (non-GAAP) earnings per share amounts and related income statement items;  
• adjusting for free cash flow;
• adjusting for currency (i.e., at constant currency).

Free cash flow guidance is derived using an estimate of profit, working capital and operational cash outflows. The company views Global Financing receivables as a profit-generating investment, which it seeks to maximize and therefore it is not considered when formulating guidance for free cash flow.  As a result, the company does not estimate a GAAP Net Cash from Operations expectation metric.

The rationale for management’s use of these non-GAAP measures is included in Exhibit 99.2 in the Form 8-K that includes this press release and is being submitted today to the SEC.

Conference Call and Webcast

IBM’s regular quarterly earnings conference call is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. EDT, today.  The Webcast may be accessed via a link at http://www.ibm.com/investor/events/earnings/1q19.html.  Presentation charts will be available shortly before the Webcast.

Financial Results Below (certain amounts may not add due to use of rounded numbers; percentages presented are calculated from the underlying whole-dollar amounts).