IBM RELEASES SECOND-QUARTER 2024 RESULTS

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IBM today announced second-quarter 2024 earnings results.

"We had a strong second quarter, exceeding our expectations, driven by growth in both revenue and free cash flow. We continue to see that clients turn to IBM for our technology and our expertise in enterprise AI, and our book of business for generative AI has grown to more than two billion dollars since the launch of watsonx one year ago," said Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman and chief executive officer. "Given our first-half results, we are raising our full-year view of free cash flow, which we now expect to be more than $12 billion." 

Second-Quarter Highlights

  • Revenue
    - Revenue of $15.8 billion, up 2 percent, up 4 percent at constant currency
    - Software revenue up 7 percent, up 8 percent at constant currency
    - Consulting revenue down 1 percent, up 2 percent at constant currency
    - Infrastructure revenue up 1 percent, up 3 percent at constant currency
  • Profit Margin
    - Gross Profit Margin: GAAP: 56.8 percent, up 180 basis points; Operating (Non-GAAP): 57.8 percent, up 190 basis points
    - Pre-Tax Income Margin: GAAP: 14.1 percent, up 110 basis points; Operating (Non-GAAP): 17.7 percent, up 220 basis points
  • Cash Flow
    - Year to date, net cash from operating activities of $6.2 billion, down $0.2 billion; free cash flow of $4.5 billion, up $1.1 billion
    - Over the last twelve months, net cash from operating activities of $13.8 billion; free cash flow of $12.3 billion

SECOND QUARTER 2024 INCOME STATEMENT SUMMARY

 

Revenue

 

Gross

Profit

   

Gross
Profit
Margin

   

Pre-tax

Income

 

Pre-tax

Income

Margin

 

Net

Income

 

Diluted

Earnings

Per Share

GAAP from
Continuing
Operations

$   15.8 B

   

$   8.9 B

   

56.8

%

 

$  2.2 B

   

14.1

%

 

$     1.8 B

   

$     1.96

 

Year/Year

2

%(1)

 

5

%

 

1.8

Pts

 

11

%

 

1.1

Pts

 

16

%

 

14

%

Operating

(Non-GAAP)

     

$   9.1 B

   

57.8

%

 

$  2.8 B

   

17.7

%

 

$     2.3 B

   

$     2.43

 

Year/Year

     

5

%

 

1.9

Pts

 

17

%

 

2.2

Pts

 

14

%

 

11

%

(1)  4% at constant currency.

"In the quarter, we accelerated our revenue growth as we continue to execute well on our strategy. Our business fundamentals, operating leverage, product mix and productivity initiatives all contributed to significant margin expansion and increased profit and free cash flow," said James Kavanaugh, IBM senior vice president and chief financial officer. "Our strong cash generation enables us to continue investing in innovation and expertise across the portfolio, while returning value to shareholders through dividends."

Segment Results for Second Quarter

  • Software — revenues of $6.7 billion, up 7.1 percent, up 8.4 percent at constant currency:
    - Hybrid Platform & Solutions up 5 percent, up 6 percent at constant currency:
          -- Red Hat up 7 percent, up 8 percent at constant currency
          -- Automation up 15 percent, up 16 percent at constant currency
          -- Data & AI down 3 percent, down 2 percent at constant currency
          -- Security up 2 percent, up 3 percent at constant currency
    - Transaction Processing up 11 percent, up 13 percent at constant currency
     
  • Consulting — revenues of $5.2 billion, down 0.9 percent, up 1.8 percent at constant currency:
    - Business Transformation up 3 percent, up 6 percent at constant currency
    - Technology Consulting down 3 percent, up 1 percent at constant currency
    - Application Operations down 4 percent, down 2 percent at constant currency
     
  • Infrastructure — revenues of $3.6 billion, up 0.7 percent, up 2.7 percent at constant currency:
    - Hybrid Infrastructure up 4 percent, up 6 percent at constant currency
          -- IBM Z up 6 percent, up 8 percent at constant currency
          -- Distributed Infrastructure up 3 percent, up 5 percent at constant currency
    - Infrastructure Support down 5 percent, down 3 percent at constant currency
     
  • Financing — revenues of $0.2 billion, down 8.3 percent, down 6.6 percent at constant currency

Cash Flow and Balance Sheet

In the second quarter, the company generated net cash from operating activities of $2.1 billion, down $0.6 billion year to year. IBM's free cash flow was $2.6 billion, up $0.5 billion year to year. The company returned $1.5 billion to shareholders in dividends in the second quarter.

For the first six months of the year, the company generated net cash from operating activities of $6.2 billion, down $0.2 billion year to year. IBM's free cash flow was $4.5 billion, up $1.1 billion year to year. Over the last twelve months, the company generated net cash from operating activities of $13.8 billion and free cash flow of $12.3 billion.

IBM ended the second quarter with $16.0 billion of cash, restricted cash and marketable securities, up $2.5 billion from year-end 2023. Debt, including IBM Financing debt of $11.1 billion, totaled $56.5 billion, flat year to date.

Full-Year 2024 Expectations

  • Revenue: The company continues to expect constant currency revenue growth consistent with its mid-single digit model. At current foreign exchange rates, currency is expected to be about a one to two-point headwind to revenue growth
  • Free cash flow: The company now expects more than $12 billion in free cash flow

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider, helping clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently, and securely. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity, and service.

For more information, visit: www.ibm.com.

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