IBM earnings beat target but revenues disappoint

US technology giant International Business Machines Corp fell 5.37% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after it posted a fall in revenue for the 20th consecutive quarter.

IBM's earnings per share topped estimates during the release of its quarterly results however.

The company posted revenue for the first three months of 2017 which totalled $18.16bn, below the $18.68bn it took in during the same quarter last year. That fall was greater than analysts had expected, with Thomson Reuters forecasting revenue of $18.39bn.

IBM has been undergoing somewhat of a shift in its core business, as it moves away from legacy hardware and software towards cloud systems.

IBM's earnings per share topped estimates during the release of its quarterly results

Earnings per share were reported as $2.38, ahead of average analyst forecasts of $2.35.

Chief executive officer Ginni Rometty said in the earnings release that the focus on its “strategic imperatives” allowed IBM to grow its new drivers such as its cloud offerings.

"In the first quarter, both the IBM Cloud and our cognitive solutions again grew strongly, which fueled robust performance in our strategic imperatives," Rometty said.

"In addition, we are developing and bringing to market emerging technologies such as blockchain and quantum, revolutionizing how enterprises will tackle complex business problems in the years ahead."

Shares in the technology firm have risen over 2% during 2017, but are still well short of the gains shown by several other blue chip stocks on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.