IBM (IBM) Pessimism Overblown

October 2, 2008 by Douglas A. McIntyre

IbmA number of people are trying to convince IBM (IBM) shareholders that the company may miss its quarterly numbers. Not likely.

IBM stock was almost $121 on Friday. It trades at $104 today.

According to the AP, "Sanford Bernstein & Co said in an e-mail to clients that the stock was falling partly on speculation that IBM’s investor relations staff was urging Wall Street analysts to lower their estimates for the company’s quarterly results."  Those investor relations people are not that clever.

In the last quarter, IBM posted strong growth across virtually every business unit. The largest division, global technology, grew almost 16%. IBM also confirmed it guidance for the year. "We feel good about our full-year outlook and our 2010 roadmap for $10 to $11 of earnings per share." The company said its sales backlog was at an all-time high.

IBM knows what its third quarter looks like. If it was going to warn on earnings, it would have already done so.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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