S hares of IBM have been rising this year as the century-old computer giant faces up to the new world of cloud computing, Big Data analytics and social networking. The stock is up 7% this year, topping the S&P 500, as it tries to rebound from a two-year slide amid falling sales and weak profit.
Big Blue got a lift Monday when billionaire investor Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, told CNBC thatIBM ( IBM ) was a trusted and innovative organization that can be expected to do well in cloud computing and corporate services.
Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway added to its IBM holdings in the first quarter.
Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM last month reported that Q1 profit rose 9% from the year-earlier quarter to $2.91 a share, beating Wall Street estimates and ending a two-quarter slide in earnings. But revenue declined for the 12th straight quarter, falling a greater-than-expected 12% to $19.6 billion.
IBM, which gets most of its revenue from outside the U.S., blamed the revenue decline on the strong dollar.
The company has been trimming its hardware units while investing in faster-growing businesses. It's been forming partnerships with young upstarts likeTwitter ( TWTR ),Facebook ( FB ) andApple ( AAPL ) to help companies collect, analyze and use a wide range of data to improve their products and services.
Revenue from IBM's cloud division jumped more than 60% in Q1 from a year earlier.
One thing that hasn't changed over the years is IBM's dividend, which the company has paid every quarter since 1916.
The latest increase was announced April 28, an 18% rise to $1.30 per share that's payable June 10 to shareholders of record May 8.
IBM has increased the quarterly payout for 20 straight years.
The annualized dividend yield is 3.1% at the current share price, well above the S&P 500 average of 1.96%. The long-term dividend growth rate is 14%.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.