What happened
Shares of International Business Machines (IBM -0.35%) climbed on Tuesday, following the release of the technology giant's second-quarter results. As of 2:05 p.m. EDT, IBM's stock price was up more than 1% after rising as much as 5% earlier the day.
So what
IBM's revenue rose 3% year over year to $18.7 billion, fueled by a 6% rise in its cloud and cognitive software sales and a 12% jump in its business services revenue. "We continued to help clients infuse our AI-based technology offerings into their core business workflows," IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said in a press release.
Investors cheered IBM's second-quarter growth metrics. Image source: Getty Images.
Better still, IBM's adjusted earnings per share of $2.33 bested Wall Street's estimates. Analysts had forecast EPS of $2.31.
IBM's cash flow generation also remained strong. Its operating and adjusted free cash flow checked in at $2.6 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively, which allowed it to pay $1.5 billion in dividends to investors. Following its recent increase in its quarterly cash payout, IBM's shares now yield a hefty 4.7%.
Now what
IBM continues to spin off noncore businesses so it can focus its efforts on its promising cloud-based operations. IBM's hybrid cloud platform helps its customers work with both public cloud and private cloud services, which is proving popular among companies seeking the additional flexibility and security this approach can provide.
"In the second quarter client adoption of our hybrid cloud platform contributed to strong performance in global business services and software and drove improved overall revenue growth," Krishna said.
