Goldman Resumes Coverage On IBM At Neutral

Goldman Sachs has published a research report on International Business Machines IBM and has resumed coverage on the company at Neutral In the report, Goldman writes "After the significant margin expansion over the past several years, IBM's EPS growth is now more dependent on a balanced contribution from revenue growth, cost efficiencies, segment mix, and share repurchases. Of these components, revenue growth and mix represent the most challenging for IBM to manage. As a result, we believe the company's performance in the higher-margin software and services segments in coming quarters will be the core drivers of earnings and share price upside. Nevertheless, heated competition and cyclical tailwinds could pressure software performance, and the services segment has only recently shown some improvement in short-term signings momentum." Goldman has also issued a $150 price target on International Business Machines, which closed Friday at $144.82.