Q2 Earnings Start Heating Up: IBM, EBAY, AXP

IBM Corporation IBM, a sort of forgotten entity in tech these days even though they are expected to bring in $80 billion in sales this year, beat estimates modestly on both top and bottom lines after the closing bell Wednesday. A five-cent beat to $3.08 per share on a round $20.00 billion in revenues which topped the $19.62 billion expected serve the headline, with a reaffirmation of full-year earnings guidance of $13.80 per share (4 cents lower than the current Zacks consensus).

Cloud computing grew 23% year over year to $4.7 billion, while the Cognitive division brought in $4.6 billion. But with gross margins in the Big Tech space at sub-50% (46.5% in Q2) on year-over-year constant currency growth up just 2%, it's easy to see why Silicon Valley investors just don't get too excited over Big Blue anymore. For more on IBM's earnings, click here.

Zacks Rank #4 (Sell)-rated eBay EBAY posted mixed Q2 results after the close, with a 2-cent beat on the bottom line to 53 cents per share. Revenues of $2.64 billion missed the Zacks consensus $2.67 billion, but were still up double-digits year over year. The earnings beat is the first time the company didn't come in exactly in-line with estimates over the past 5 quarters. But while full-year guidance remained steady, Q3 EPS and sales guided down slightly in the report. Shares are selling off more than 2% in late trading.

American Express AXP also posted a mixed Q2 report this afternoon, beating estimates by a penny on the bottom line at $1.84 per share, while $10.00 billion in revenues was just shy of the $10.05 billion Zacks analysts had predicted. Higher loan volumes and a $3 billion share buyback program was not enough to salvage a late-trading selloff: shares are down 3% at this hour. For more on AXP's earnings, click here.

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