International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) reports fourth-quarter 2023 results that beat expectations, leading to an 8% surge in after-hours trading。Earnings per share for the quarter were 3.$87, adjusted to exceed expectations by 3.$78, revenue to 173.$800 million, more than expected 173.$0 billion。Net income from 27.$100 million to 32.900 million dollars。

The company will have more than $11 billion in free cash flow in 2023 and plans to acquire two software assets in the next quarter.。Distributed infrastructure category grew 8%。Stocks have broken out of their long-term trading range and are up about 24% over the past 12 months.。Consulting sales up 5 last quarter.8% to 50.$500 million, but the software business contracted by 5%。

IBM Chief Financial Officer James Kavanaugh said the company expects productivity growth to lead to workforce restructuring, with free cash flow expected to grow from $11.2 billion in 2023 to about $12 billion this year.。Revenue is expected to grow as a percentage of the median single digits。

The rise in share prices has also been affected by increased demand for artificial intelligence (AI).。IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said customer demand for AI is accelerating, and the company's WatsonX and generative AI businesses are growing in size.。Companies emphasize the importance of moving to a hybrid cloud strategy to help manage and deploy applications in different computing environments。