RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – No blue news from IBM (NYSE: IBM) on Tuesday. The tech giant’s quarterly financials beat Wall Street expectations and its stock rose quickly in after-hours trading.

“Demand for hybrid cloud and AI [artificial intelligence] drove growth in both Software and Consulting in the first quarter. Today we’re a more focused business and our results reflect the execution of our strategy,” said Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman and chief executive officer in a statement. “We are off to a solid start for the year, and we now see revenue growth for 2022 at the high end of our model.”

As CNBC reported:

  • Earnings: $1.40 per share, adjusted, vs. $1.38 per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
  • Revenue: $14.2 billion, vs. $13.85 billion as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.

Helping drive growth was cloud sales led in large part by Raleigh-based Red Hat.

Highlights from the report

  • Revenue of $14.2 billion, up 8 percent, up 11 percent at constant currency (over 5 points from incremental sales to Kyndryl)
  • Software revenue up 12 percent, up 15 percent at constant currency (over 8 points from incremental sales to Kyndryl)
  • Consulting revenue up 13 percent, up 17 percent at constant currency
  • Infrastructure revenue down 2 percent, flat at constant currency (over 8 points from incremental sales to Kyndryl)
  • Hybrid cloud revenue: First Quarter: $5.0 billion, up 14 percent, up 17 percent at constant currency; last 12 months: $20.8 billion, up 17 percent

“In the first quarter we continued to strengthen the fundamentals of our business, consistent with our medium-term model,” said James Kavanaugh, IBM senior vice president and chief financial officer. “We are a faster growing, more profitable company with a higher-value business mix, a significant recurring revenue base and strong cash generation.”

IBM operates one of its largest corporate campuses in RTP and employs thousands of people across North Carolina.

Read the full earnings report online.