IBM shares are down 4.4% aftermarket even though it beat revenue estimates and posted its first year-over-year revenue growth in almost six years.
In its sectors, Cognitive Solutions (solutions and transaction processing software) was $5.4bn (flat in constant currency); Global Business Services (consulting, global process services, and application management), down slightly at $4.2bn (-2% Y/Y); Technology Services & Cloud Platforms (infrastructure services, tech support services, integration hardware) at $9.2bn (-4%); Systems (systems hardware and OS software), $3.3bn (+28%); Global Financing (financing and used equipment sales), $450M (-2%).
Cloud revenue increased 27% on the year to $5.5bn.
Barclays has given IBM a double upgrade on its cloud potential The annual exit run rate for as-a-service revenue increased 18% to $10.3B, mobile revenue was up 21%, and security revenue up 127%.
The company had about $71bn in overseas cash at the end of 2016.
Alison Say, Director, IBM Cloud Business Partner Ecosystem, Europe, commented: "Cloud technology has evolved over the past five years into a fundamental enabler of business innovation and growth.
"Beyond simple infrastructure capability and increased agility, this latest phase of cloud is all about providing higher value services from a secure platform and creating offerings in everything from analytics and security to AI, blockchain, IoT and more."