IBM CEO: Return to work should have a government standard

New York (CNN Business)IBM shares jumped about 6% in after-hours trading Monday after a second-quarter earnings report that was not quite as painful as Wall Street had feared, despite disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The company reported earnings of $2.18 per share — down 31% from the same period in the prior year — on $18.1 billion in revenue during the three months ended June 30. Wall Street analysts had predicted earnings of $2.07 per share on $17.7 billion in revenue.
Cloud computing was a bright spot for IBM (IBM). Sales from its cloud and cognitive software division rose 3% from the year-ago quarter to $5.7 billion, led by a nearly 30% jump in cloud and data platforms revenue.

    About an hour after the report was released, IBM shares were up around 4%.
    The report offered the first glimpse of IBM’s financial performance under CEO Arvind Krishna, who took over as chief executive in April. Krishna previously ran IBM’s cloud business.

    “We are committed to building, with a growing ecosystem of partners, an enduring hybrid cloud platform that will serve as a powerful catalyst for innovation for our clients and the world,” Krishna said in a press release Monday.
    The pandemic has presented a mixed bag for tech companies like IBM. On one hand, enterprises are relying on technology more than ever, and many are accelerating their digital transformations. But at the same time, many have scaled back their spending on digital services deemed nonessential as the pandemic takes a hit to their sales.
    Sales from IBM’s global business services segment (which includes consulting and application management) fell 7%, and sales from global technology services (which includes infrastructure and technology support services) fell 8%.

      Also during the quarter, IBM announced the cancellation of its facial recognition programs and called on lawmakers to consider whether the technology should be used in law enforcement.
      IBM did not provide an update on its full-year guidance after it had pulled the projections earlier this year.
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