SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- IBM Corp. plans to post its fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday after the market closes. It will be the first quarter reported under the company's newest CEO, Virginia "Ginni" Rometty, who was named to the technology icon's helm last fall.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Investors will look for new services contract signings as an indication of how the company will fare in coming months.
There are concerns about a slowdown in the technology sector.
IBM's revenue narrowly missed analysts' expectations last quarter, reviving questions about its ability to bring in enough new business to fuel substantial growth. But its earnings beat expectations, and the company raised its profit forecast for the year.
Global companies such as IBM face dangers on multiple fronts as the U.S. economy continues to sputter and the euro crisis looms over Europe. Last month, business software maker Oracle Corp. gave a disappointing quarterly report that raised concerns that companies and government agencies may be cutting back on technology spending.
WHY IT MATTERS: IBM is the world's largest technology-services company. Its results provide one measurement of businesses' appetite for technology spending.
WHAT'S EXPECTED: Analysts, on average, are expecting adjusted earnings of $4.62 per share on revenue of $29.73 billion, according to FactSet.
LAST YEAR'S QUARTER: IBM's adjusted earnings were $4.25 per share and revenue was $29 billion.
There are no comments yet