IBM beats quarterly revenue estimates, warns of $3.5 bln forex hit

IBM now expects a foreign exchange hit to revenue of about 6% this year

IT hardware and services company IBM Corp beat quarterly revenue expectations on Monday but warned that the hit from forex for the year could be about $3.5 billion due to a strong dollar, Qazet.az reports.

A hawkish Federal Reserve and heightened geopolitical tensions have driven gains in the dollar against a basket of currencies over the last year, prompting companies with sizeable international operations, including Microsoft and Salesforce, to temper expectations.

IBM now expects a foreign exchange hit to revenue of about 6% this year, Chief Financial Officer James Kavanaugh told Reuters. It had previously forecast a 3% to 4% hit.