Second-quarter revenue growth was modest and below management’s expectations
Revenue increased 1.1% year over year to $17.2B. Management stated that Software and Infrastructure performance was below expectations, while Consulting was in line; Software grew 5.1%, Consulting was essentially flat at 0.2% growth, and Infrastructure declined 7.4%.
IBM Z shortfall pressured Infrastructure revenue and profitability
Infrastructure revenue fell 7.4% to $3.8B, with IBM Z revenue down 42.0% versus a historically strong prior-year z17 launch period. Management attributed the shortfall partly to large deals that did not close on expected timelines after clients redirected spending toward supply-constrained servers, storage and memory ahead of anticipated price increases.
Software recurring revenue and acquisitions supported growth despite transactional weakness
Software revenue rose 5.1% to $7.8B, led by Data growth of 18.9% and Hybrid Cloud growth of 11.2%. Management said approximately 80% of Software revenue is recurring; Software ARR was $24.6B, up approximately $2.0B year over year, reflecting Confluent and growth in the recurring-revenue base, while Transaction Processing revenue declined 8.1%.