Even as International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) prepares to re-market itself as the provider of data analytics and cloud computing services rather than hardware, things are looking a tad cloudy for the company.
IBM generates a majority of its sales revenue from overseas; however, with the imminent slowdown in global economy (coupled with the strong dollar hampering demand of products and services abroad from emerging markets and China), the company's Q3 2015 net profit has fallen 14 percent to $19.3 billion - well short of the analysts' forecast of $19.6 billion.
The steadily shrinking sales are not a positive sign for IBM which is transitioning to a new identity. This is the 14th quarter in a row that the firm has experienced declining revenue.
With 42 continuous months of dismal sales generation, in an unsurprising move, IBM has lowered its full-year profit forecast.
The earnings forecast for IBM's shares have been lowered by the firm to $14.75 to $15.75 per share compared to the previous estimation of $15.75 to $16.50 per share.
Analysts are of the belief that while IBM is on the threshold of reinventing itself and making footholds in the cloud computing space, as well as data analytics, it is unable to keep pace with the evolving market requirements.
"The market is changing quickly, and IBM can't move fast enough," opines A. M. Sacconaghi, analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company. "That's what this suggests."
IBM's combined sales from India, China, Russia and Brazil fell 30 percent. China was the worst hit of the lot as sales fell 17 percent.
However, there is a silver lining for IBM in the form of what it labels "strategic imperatives" which basically comprises its data analytics, cloud and mobile computing and social and security software - the revenue rose 17 percent in Q3 2015.
IBM's continuing operations' net income also followed the bleak path and fell from $3.46 to $3.02 per share i.e. from $3.46 billion to $2.96 per share when compared to Q3 2014.
IBM's shares fell by 4.8 percent to $141.95 in after-hours trading on Monday, Oct.19.
