International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2008 results today at 4:30 PM Eastern. Results will be presented by Mark Loughridge, senior vice president and chief financial officer. To view the webcast of the report, see IBM 4Q08 Earnings Presentation.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect IBM to report a fourth-quarter profit of $3.03 per share, 7.6% higher than in the year-ago period. Revenues for the quarter are expected to have fallen 2.5% from a year ago to $28.2 billion. IBM earnings have beaten estimates in the past five quarters.
For the full year, analysts are looking for earnings of $8.69 per share on revenue of $104.8 billion, up from $7.13 per share and $98.8 billion in the previous year.
The consensus recommendation of analysts remains to buy IBM, and the long-term EPS growth forecast is 11.2%. The share price is up slightly from the beginning of the year, but about 18% lower than it was a year ago.
See BloggingStocks' IBM coverage for more information concerning Big Blue.
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