Arvind Krishna, Chairman, President and CEO of IBM, attends the 55th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on January 22, 2025.
Eve Herman | Reuters
IBM reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results on Wednesday and issued slightly better-than-expected forecasts.
Here’s how the company performed compared to LSEG’s consensus forecasts:
Earnings per share: $4.52 adjusted vs. $4.32 expected Revenue: $19.69 billion vs. $19.23 billion expected.
Sales for the period increased 12% from $17.6 billion in the same period last year. Net income increased to $5.6 billion, or $5.88 per share, from $2.92 billion, or $3.09 per share, in the year-ago period.
IBM said it expects full-year sales growth to be more than 5%, slowing from 8% a year ago. Analysts expect sales to increase 4.6% in 2026, according to LSEG. Free cash flow should increase by $1 billion after reaching $14.7 billion in 2025, the company said.
CEO Arvind Krishna said in a release that the company’s generative artificial intelligence book of business has grown to more than $12.5 billion.
“This caps a strong 2025 for IBM, with revenue, earnings and free cash flow exceeding expectations,” Krishna wrote.
He also said on an earnings call with analysts that the company is on pace to deliver its first large-scale quantum computer by 2029.
IBM said software revenue rose 14% to $9 billion in the fourth quarter, benefiting from automation, data and Red Hat products. Infrastructure sales increased 21% to $5.1 billion, and the IBM Z Systems series of mainframe computers posted 67% year-over-year growth.
The company’s board of directors approved a dividend of $1.68 per share, to be paid on March 10th.
