Earnings Preview: IBM to Unveil Third-Quarter Results After Wednesday's Close, With Analysts Expecting EPS of $2.87 on Revenue of $16.84 Billion as Software and Red Hat Growth Draw Focus
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is scheduled to report third-quarter 2026 results after the U.S. market close on Wednesday, October 21, with an earnings call at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The results have not yet been published. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is $2.87 a share on revenue of $16.84 billion, while FactSet-based estimates put earnings at $2.86 a share on revenue of $16.82 billion, implying revenue growth of about 3% from a year earlier.
A year ago, IBM reported revenue of $16.33 billion and earnings of $2.65 a share. In the second quarter of 2026, IBM earned $2.93 a share, matching estimates, on revenue of $17.16 billion, up 1.1% year over year but below the $17.46 billion expected. Over the trailing four quarters, IBM has beaten earnings estimates three times, with an average surprise of 4.6%.
Attention centers on the software segment, including Red Hat and IBM's super intelligence offerings, which analysts view as the company's main growth engine, and on whether consulting demand is stabilizing. Chief Executive Arvind Krishna has said that deals which slipped from the second quarter reflected delays rather than weak demand, and that about one-third of them closed in the first weeks of the third quarter. Morgan Stanley's October 14 preview said those deferred deals would be recognized as third-quarter revenue, alongside strong infrastructure demand for servers, storage and tape hardware.
Investors will also watch free cash flow and any update to full-year guidance. Options traders are pricing a post-earnings move of roughly 7% to 8%. Morgan Stanley maintained an Equal-Weight rating on IBM while raising its price target to $238 from $190.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: IBM位于纽约州阿蒙克的全球总部大楼资料图。照片：Treesmittenex 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经维基共享资源。 / File photo: IBM's global headquarters in Armonk, New York. Photo by Treesmittenex, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-21Earnings Preview: IBM to Unveil Third-Quarter Results After Wednesday's Close, With Analysts Expecting EPS of $2.87 on Revenue of $16.84 Billion as Software and Red Hat Growth Draw FocusThis story
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