IBM's magic formula: it's good to be a multinational

It's been mostly doom-and-gloom on Wall Street. But somehow IBM (NYSE: IBM) has found a magic formula for success.

In fiscal Q4, IBM posted a 10% increase in revenues to $28.9 billion, with net income up 12% to $3.95 billion, or $2.80 per share. What's more, the company expects the good times to continue – with full-year earnings per share growth of 15%. (See the full transcript of the company's earnings conference call with investors).

What's going on? Well, a key is IBM's massive global footprint as well as extensive offerings. For example, the company has been aggressively buying software companies, such as Cognos. These deals not only improve growth rates but also margins.

Something else: Keep in mind that a variety of developing nations are investing large sums in their infrastructures. And, isn't IBM a good partner for this?

Actually, it's not just countries like China and India that are seeing substantial growth. There are other hot spots, such as Malaysia, Poland, South Africa, Ecuador, the Czech Republic, and so on.

Of the 170 countries that IBM does business with, there are 50 that are experiencing growth rates in excess of 10%. Interestingly enough, IBM is calling this the "Gold Rush of the 21st century."

In other words, it looks like IBM's growth is more than just a short-term blip.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.