"IBM's leader has trumpeted an AI-on-the-mainframe future as generative AI fills in the COBOL gap left by earlier generations of techies. Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman, president, and chief executive officer, was speaking as the company turned in full-year results that showed a leap in mainframe sales. Big Blue turned in revenue from continuing operations of $19.7 billion for the fourth quarter, up 12 percent on the year, yielding net income of $5.6 billion, up 91 percent. For the full year, revenue was up 8 percent to $67.5 billion, while net income jumped 76 percent to $10.6 billion."
"Naturally, AI featured heavily as the firm briefed analysts on the numbers. "Our cumulative GenAI book of business now stands at over $12.5 billion, of which Software is more than $2 billion and Consulting is more than $10.5 billion, with both seeing the largest quarterly increase to date," said Krishna. He said the technology was also a "powerful productivity driver" for the firm itself. "In 2023, we set out on a goal to achieve $2 billion of productivity savings exiting 2024. And today, we are well ahead of that, exiting 2025 with $4.5 billion of annual run rate savings.""
"However, the strongest growth came in IBM's infrastructure business, which grew revenues 12 percent for the year, and 21 percent in the fourth quarter. Software grew 11 percent for the full year, and 14 percent in the fourth quarter. Consulting was the laggard, up 2 percent for the year and 3 percent in the fourth quarter - or flat and 1 percent at constant currency respectively. That infrastructure boost was in large part powered by the launch of IBM's z17 series of mainframes. In his prepared remarks, Krishna said: "Innovation value can also be seen in our IBM Z performance, up 48 percent this year, achieving the highest annual revenue for Z in about 20 years.""
IBM delivered stronger financial results with fourth-quarter revenue of $19.7 billion, up 12%, and net income of $5.6 billion, up 91%. Full-year revenue reached $67.5 billion, up 8%, while net income rose 76% to $10.6 billion. Generative AI materially contributed to sales momentum, producing a cumulative GenAI book of business exceeding $12.5 billion, split across Software (over $2 billion) and Consulting (over $10.5 billion). AI also generated internal productivity gains, producing a $4.5 billion annual run rate in savings by the end of 2025. Infrastructure led growth, driven by strong z17 mainframe demand and a 48% increase in IBM Z performance.
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