IBM shares rise as coronavirus sends business to the cloud

Revenue from the cloud business increased 30 percent to $6.3 billion

Shares of International Business Machines rose 5 percent in extended trading after the company reported quarterly earnings that topped expectations.

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IBM's shift to its high-margin cloud computing business is paying off as companies made the digital shift due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Revenue from the cloud business increased 30 percent to $6.3 billion.

The company reported second-quarter earnings of $1.36 billion.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
IBM INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. 222.34 +7.73 +3.60%

On a per-share basis, that breaks down to net income of $1.52. Earnings, adjusted for costs related to mergers and acquisitions and non-recurring costs, were $2.18 per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.14 per share.

Revenue for the technology and consulting company fell 5.4 percent to $18.12 billion in the period, but still exceeded Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $17.71 billion.

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The Associated Press contributed to this article.