IBM三季度营收/调整后EPS超预期并上调全年指引，但CEO警示大企业AI支出ROI趋谨慎，盘前一度跌约6%

IBM ( IBM ) shares fell 6% in Thursday premarket trading despite the Q3 beat as CEO said large enterprises are becoming more cautious about the returns on their AI investments. "Larger enterprises are becoming a lot more cognizant and a lot more aware of what is the true ROI of all of their AI spend," said CEO Arvind Krishna in conf. call. "They're also getting worried if some of the AI spending completely out of control with no real return" For the quarter ended September 30, IBM reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.95 compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87. GAAP EPS was $2.30 versus the $2.45 estimate. Revenue for the third quarter increased 5% year over year to $17.1B, which was more than the $16.84B estimate. Adjusted gross margin of 58.5% was less than the 59.3% estimate. On a business segment basis, software was the biggest gainer for Big Blue, as revenue increased 8.3% year over year to $7.8B versus the $7.6B estimate. Consulting remained relatively flat at $5.3B, infrastructure climbed 4.2% to $3.7B, and financing declined 4% to $192M. Seeking Alpha analyst Michael Del Monte highlighted the importance of cybersecurity in the positive results. "Growth in the quarter was led by Red Hat, specifically data services and hybrid cloud, as companies undergo their AI transformation journeys," he said. "Cybersecurity was a major growth factor in the company's consulting business, likely the result of concerns mounting regarding how agentic AI can be used in a safe and secure environment." For the full fiscal year, IBM expects revenue to increase at a midpoint of 4.5%, which is more than the 4.1% estimate. "IBM's technology and expertise are helping organizations drive growth and serve customers with greater speed, precision and efficiency than ever before," said Arvind Krishna , IBM chairman, president and CEO. "For the full year, we continue to expect constant currency revenue growth in the range of four-to-five percent, and we now expect free cash flow to increase by more than $1 billion year-over-year." The IBM Board of Directors also approved a quarterly cash dividend of $1.69 per common share. The company said it has paid consecutive quarterly dividends every year since 1916. ( This story has been updated to reflect the premarket share move, and executive comments from the earnings call. )