IBM Corp reported its first quarter of revenue growth in more than five years as the company ramps up its cloud computing business and looks for new opportunities from its investments in artificial intelligence.
“Over the past several years we have invested aggressively in technology and our people to reposition IBM,” James Kavanaugh, IBM’s new chief financial officer, said in a statement on Thursday after the company reported its fourth-quarter earnings.
The company still reported a quarterly loss of US$1.05 billion, reflecting a US$5.5 billion charge associated with recent tax legislation. IBM reported a US$4.5 billion profit in the same period a year earlier.
The technology and consulting company posted revenue of US$22.54 billion in the period, which topped Wall Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected US$21.96 billion.
For the year, the company reported profit of US$5.75 billion, or US$6.14 per share, down from US$11.87 billion, or US$12.38 a share, in 2016. Annual revenue for last year was US$79.14 billion.
On a per-share basis, the Armonk, New York-based company said it had a quarterly loss of US$1.14.
Adjusted for pretax expenses and non-recurring costs, IBM reported a quarterly profit of US$5.18 per share.
The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for an adjusted profit of US$5.17 per share.
IBM shares have risen 10 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has increased about 5 percent. In the final minutes of New York trading on Thursday, shares hit US$169.15, a climb of slightly more than 1 percent in the last 12 months.
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