IBM Beats Estimates By $0.10, Guides FY2011 In-Line (IBM)

International Business Machines IBM reports Q4 earnings of $4.18 versus estimates of $4.08, and revenues of $29.02B versus $28.26B consensus. "We completed an outstanding year, with record profit and free cash flow, and exceeded the high end of our 2010 earnings per share roadmap objective," said Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We also capped a decade in which our shift to high-value businesses, our global integration of IBM, our investment in research and development of almost $60 billion and our acquisition of 116 companies have helped us to nearly triple our EPS and return more than $100 billion to shareholders. “As IBM enters its second century, we will continue to focus on our long-term strategic initiatives -- growth markets, Smarter Planet Solutions, cloud and business analytics -- as we drive to achieve our new roadmap target of operating earnings per share of at least $20 in 2015." IBM expects GAAP EPS of at least $12.56 and operating (non-GAAP) EPS of at least $13.00 per share in 2011. Shares are moving higher in the after hours, gaining $3.53 to $154.18, a gain of 2.4% in after-hours.