Mainframe sales spur IBM to strong quarter
IBM improved its earnings outlook for 2010 after delivering a strong third quarter. The company showed strength in businesses ranging from services to mainframes and analytics.
The company reported in a statement net income of $3.6bn (£2.3bn), or $2.82 a share, on revenue of $24.3bn, which was up 3 percent from a year ago. Wall Street analysts were expecting earnings of $2.75 a share on revenue of $24.13bn.
Hardware revenue was $4.3bn, up 10 percent from the third quarter a year ago. Revenue was propelled by IBM's System z mainframes. Software revenue was $5.2bn, up 1 percent from a year ago. Revenue from middleware saw a 7 percent increase on this time last year.
For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see IBM ups 2010 outlook; New mainframes spur hardware sales on ZDNet.com.