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Unlocking IBM (IBM) International Revenues: Trends, Surprises, and Prospects

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Have you evaluated the performance of IBM's (IBM - Free Report) international operations for the quarter ending March 2024? Given the extensive global presence of this technology and consulting company, analyzing the patterns in international revenues is crucial for understanding its financial strength and potential for growth.

In the current global economy, which is more interconnected than ever, a company's success in penetrating international markets is crucial for its financial health and growth journey. Investors must understand a company's dependence on overseas markets, as this offers a window into the company's earnings stability, its ability to benefit from varied economic cycles and its potential for long-term growth.

Participation in global economies acts as a defense against economic difficulties at home and a pathway to more rapidly developing economies. However, it also comes with the complexities of dealing with fluctuating currencies, geopolitical risks and different market dynamics.

Upon examining IBM's recent quarterly performance, we noticed several interesting patterns in the revenue generated from its international segments, which are commonly analyzed and observed by Wall Street experts.

The company's total revenue for the quarter amounted to $14.46 billion, showing rise of 1.5%. We will now explore the breakdown of IBM's overseas revenue to assess the impact of its international operations.

Exploring IBM's International Revenue Patterns

Of the total revenue, $2.9 billion came from Asia Pacific during the last fiscal quarter, accounting for 20.1%. This represented a surprise of +6.08% as analysts had expected the region to contribute $2.73 billion to the total revenue. In comparison, the region contributed $3.2 billion, or 18.4%, and $2.8 billion, or 19.7%, to total revenue in the previous and year-ago quarters, respectively.

Europe, Middle East and Africa accounted for 29.7% of the company's total revenue during the quarter, translating to $4.3 billion. Revenues from this region represented a surprise of -0.04%, with Wall Street analysts collectively expecting $4.3 billion. When compared to the preceding quarter and the same quarter in the previous year, Europe, Middle East and Africa contributed $5.3 billion (30.5%) and $4.3 billion (30.2%) to the total revenue, respectively.

Projected Revenues in Foreign Markets

Wall Street analysts expect IBM to report a total revenue of $15.7 billion in the current fiscal quarter, which suggests an increase of 1.5% from the prior-year quarter. Revenue shares from Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa are predicted to be 18.7% and 30.3%, corresponding to amounts of $2.93 billion and $4.75 billion, respectively.

For the full year, the company is projected to achieve a total revenue of $63.47 billion, which signifies a rise of 2.6% from the last year. The share of this revenue from various regions is expected to be: Asia Pacific at 18.7% ($11.88 billion) and Europe, Middle East and Africa at 30% ($19.01 billion).

Key Takeaways

The dependency of IBM on global markets for its revenues presents a mix of potential gains and hazards. Thus, monitoring the trends in its overseas revenues can be a key indicator for predicting the firm's future performance.

With the increasing intricacies of global interdependence and geopolitical strife, Wall Street analysts meticulously observe these patterns, especially for companies with an international footprint, to tweak their forecasts of earnings. Importantly, several additional factors, such as a company's domestic market status, also impact these earnings forecasts.

At Zacks, a company's changing earnings outlook is given considerable attention due to its proven, strong influence on a stock's price performance in the near term. The connection here is straightforward and positive: when earnings estimates are revised upward, the stock price generally follows suit, increasing as well.

The Zacks Rank, our proprietary stock rating tool, comes with an externally validated impressive track record. It effectively utilizes shifts in earnings projections to act as a dependable barometer for forecasting short-term stock price trends.

IBM, bearing a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), is expected to mirror the broader market's movements in the near term. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

A Review of IBM's Recent Stock Market Performance

The stock has declined by 12.5% over the past month compared to the 2% fall of the Zacks S&P 500 composite. Meanwhile, the Zacks Computer and Technology sector, which includes IBM, has decreased 1.9% during this time frame. Over the past three months, the company's shares have experienced a loss of 10% relative to the S&P 500's 4.6% increase. Throughout this period, the sector overall has witnessed a 4.2% increase.


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