IBM to beat Wall Street expectation

IBM to beat Wall Street expectations – its 4Q earnings from continuing operations rose 24 percent from a year ago.

Photo: IBM to beat Wall Street expectation

The report pushed the company’s shares up 8 percent on premarket trading.

Weak dollar helped to push revenue up 10 percent, the AP reported.

IBM reported earnings rose 18 percent to $7.18 per share in 2007, including a 5-cent gain on the sale of its printing systems division in the second quarter, on sales of 98.8 billion dollars( 66.79 billion euros), representing 8 percent growth year-over-year.

IBM is a multinational computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk , New York , USA . The company is one of the few information technology companies with a continuous history dating back to the 19th century. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and offers infrastructure services, hosting services, and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology.

IBM has been known through most of its recent history as the world's largest computer company; with over 355,000 employees worldwide, IBM is the largest information technology employer in the world. It is also the most profitable, but in revenues it fell to second place behind Hewlett Packard in 2007. Since 1990, IBM's annual sales growth has trailed behind the US economic growth due to global deregulation and competition.

IBM holds more patents than any other U.S. based technology company. It has engineers and consultants in over 170 countries and IBM Research has eight laboratories worldwide. IBM employees have earned three Nobel Prizes, four Turing Awards, five National Medals of Technology, and five National Medals of Science. As a chip maker, IBM is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders.