Global Services results are disappointing, especially a $2 billion drop in its backlog in the fourth quarter. And a 9% decline in new contract signings? That means that the biggest IBM unit is losing more business from its backlog than it is signing. |
If anyone wants to look at the quantum leap at IBM, they should look at profit margins. Investors have to be savvy enough to accept the fact that sometimes smaller is better, but that's not the mentality on Wall Street. That may be why IBM is not getting the credit they deserve. |
Only the degree of severity of the decline will vary from one company to the next. |
Overall, IBM hit the first quarter on the button. The company is on the slow track to improvement. |
Overall, you can say the quarter was on the mark, |
Overall, you can say the quarter was on the mark. The sales and earnings were about where they should be for this quarter. |
Prior to 1994, IBM didn't have the kind of structure it has now. They also had silos, |
That's been the sales pitch I've been hearing from all these companies. |
The answer obviously has to be in diversifying the customer set, drilling down deeper into the smaller and medium-sized companies, |
The answer obviously has to be in diversifying the customer set, drilling down deeper into the smaller and medium-sized companies. |
The Big Blue ship is leaking and creaking, and the new skipper says there's no need to change, ... Just keep those fingers plugged in the leaks, as we rehearse the sinking ship drill at Armonk. Well, investors think there is good reason to change. They are voting with their feet, just as we predicted back in January. |
The mainframe is much more important to IBM than meets the eye, ... Off of that mainframe IBM gets a ton of other revenue. |
The mainframe is much more important to IBM than meets the eye. Off of that mainframe IBM gets a ton of other revenue. |
The way I would characterize what I saw today is, they're on a slow path of improvement. It's not a sprint. |
These companies, in their own way, all are in trouble and cutting back their capital spending and budgets, and that's why the IT services vendors are feeling the pinch as well, ... That cannot be said of the small and medium-sized enterprises, which is typically Sun's bread-and-butter marketplace. |