Putting a Chipper Face on IBM’s $1 Billion Miss

As reported earlier, IBM ( IBM ) last night pre-announced Q3 sales that missed analysts’ estimates by about $1 billion, though the company beat on the bottom line. Several analysts took the miss in stride, focusing on the profit beat as something of a relief: J.P. Morgan’s Mark Moskowitz says the results “provide some solace” given that “bear mongering” had surrounded the stock in recent days with speculation of a huge miss. The revenue miss is likely “in part” the result of currency exchange, observes Moskowitz. Although IBM actually missed Moskowitz’s $27 billion revenue estimate by almost $2 billion, this is not the huge miss the bears were looking for, and, accordingly, he thinks the pre-announce should “throw some water on the fire sale” in IBM stock. Nevertheless, Moskowitz his profit estimate from $8.76 per share for this year to $8.71, below the $8.75 IBM is projecting. Moskowitz has a “Neutral” rating on the ... (link)