Bank Of America Maintains Buy Rating On IBM

According to Bank of America, IBM IBM 2Q11 EPS of $3.09 beat its/consensus of $3.05/3.03 – versus the model, better revenue ($26.7bn vs. our $25.5bn) and opex, were somewhat offset by lower gross margin. Bank of America said that services bookings were $14.3bn (above Street's ~$12-13bn), and IBM raised 2011 EPS guidance to “at least” $13.25 (from $13.15+; vs. its/street prior of $13.31/13.22), which highlighted their optimism on the call for C2H11. “We maintain our Buy rating on EPS revisions, strong FCF, and operating leverage.” IBM closed yesterday at $22.79.