Goldman Sachs Raising Price Target On IBM After Earnings (IBM)

Goldman Sachs raised its price target on shares of International Business Machines Corp. IBM to $155 from $150 after the company reported better than expected earnings. It has a Neutral rating on shares. In a note sent to clients, Goldman writes, "IBM reported solid fourth quarter results, with revenues of $29.02 bn and EPS of $4.18, topping our estimates of $28.27 bn and $4.10 and consensus of $28.26 bn and $4.08. Hardware (particularly mainframes) and software were the key drivers of upside, and services signings staged a surprisingly sharp recovery. Services signings came in at $22.1 bn at actual rates. Transactional (short-term) signings grew 8% at actual rates (9% at constant currency) versus our estimate of 4.5% constant currency growth. Outsourcing (long-term) signings grew 24% at actual rates (23% at constant currency) compared with our forecast for a decline of 14.5% at constant currency." Shares of IBM are up $3.80 in pre-market trading to $154.45, a gain of 2.5%.