IBM earnings preview: Can they beat the analysts again?

In its previous two earnings reports, analysts have been pleasantly surprised by International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM). Two quarters ago, IBM squeaked past analysts' earnings predictions by a mere penny, but last quarter IBM dusted those dudes by nearly 12 cents. What will it be this time around? Can Big Blue pull it off once again? Analysts are posting a consensus average of $1.44 per share.

The company gives an optimistic picture of itself, which is nothing unusual for IBM. It's in the process of an aggressive share buy-back program and expects to spend approximately $12 billion on that this year. Launch of the company's System z10 mainframe has been received as well as expected, and in January the company issued $3.5 billion of 18 month floating rate notes, allowing reclassification of a significant amount of debt.

The Associated Press reports a selected analysts review that depicts global strength coupled with conservative optimism. No points of particular concern are mentioned. The company withheld making it's own quarterly forecast, but analysts and the company are aligned with predictions of $8.25 EPS for the year. I found nothing that persuaded me to question the analyst's average consensus. I'll say $1.44 it is.

Gary Sattler is a freelance blogger. He does not knowingly hold interest in the companies mentioned in this blog post.