IBM revenue falls more than expected

From CNET News.com: IBM's quarterly revenue fell by a bigger-than-expected 11 percent as the slowdown in corporate spending hurt even one of the healthiest U.S. technology companies.

But higher margins helped IBM's first-quarter profit beat Wall Street estimates, and the company affirmed its full-year earnings outlook -- helping to limit the fall in IBM shares to 1.6 percent after hours.

"These were decent results in light of the challenging economy. Certainly the top line is being impacted by the weak economy," said Andy Miedler, analyst at Edward Jones.

"IBM is managing the business well, focusing on expense control, and its movement to software and services is clearly evident in the increasing profitability. Net-net we think this is a decent quarter."

IBM said on Monday that first-quarter revenue fell to $21.71 billion from $24.50 billion a year earlier. That compared with analysts' average forecast of $22.56 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

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