IBM and Texas Instruments beat forecasts, Lam posts a record; AT&T falls 6.5%
IBM, Texas Instruments and Lam Research posted strong results after Wednesday's close. AT&T, which reported before the open, raised its outlook and still closed 6.45% lower at $21.91, according to Nasdaq data cited by The Company Chronicle.
The scorecard
| Company | Revenue | Change | What stood out |
|---|---|---|---|
| IBM | $17.1bn | +5% y/y | Now expects free cash flow to rise by more than $1bn this year |
| Texas Instruments | $6.06bn | +28% y/y | Q4 guide midpoint ($6.05bn) roughly matches Q3 |
| Lam Research | $8.22bn | +22% q/q | China was 35% of revenue |
| AT&T | $32.3bn | +5.3% y/y | $2.6bn impairment on Mexico wireless unit |
Sources: company releases; The Company Chronicle.
IBM: a beat, with thinner margins
IBM's software revenue rose 8% and infrastructure 4%, while consulting was flat. GAAP gross margin slipped 50 basis points to 56.8%. CNBC reported that was narrower than expected. IBM kept its full-year forecast for 4% to 5% revenue growth at constant currency.
Chips: strong quarter, flat outlook at TI
TI's earnings per share rose to $2.62 from $1.48 a year earlier, and operating profit rose 73% to $2.87 billion. Zacks had expected about $2.40 a share on $5.93 billion of revenue, via Yahoo Finance. But its fourth-quarter revenue range of $5.80 billion to $6.30 billion has a midpoint almost exactly in line with the third quarter.
Lam's revenue was about 54% higher than a year earlier. The low end of its December-quarter range, $8.2 billion, is roughly what it just reported.
| Lam revenue by region | Share |
|---|---|
| China | 35% |
| Korea | 20% |
| Taiwan | 18% |
Source: The Company Chronicle, from Lam's release.
AT&T falls despite a higher outlook
AT&T's adjusted earnings rose to $0.65 a share from $0.54. GAAP earnings were just $0.13 because of the Mexico impairment and separation charges. It added 379,000 postpaid phone customers. The Company Chronicle said it could not confirm a stated reason for the share price fall.
Watch at Thursday's open
Reports of after-hours moves in IBM, TI and Lam conflicted, The Company Chronicle said. Here are Wednesday's regular-session closes.
| Stock | Wednesday close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| IBM | $251.46 | +3.94% |
| Texas Instruments | $284.65 | +2.47% |
| Lam Research | $260.81 | −1.00% |
| AT&T | $21.91 | −6.45% |
Source: Nasdaq quote data via The Company Chronicle. This is market information, not investment advice.
