1st Quarter Results

IBM
                  

IBM Reports 2005 First-Quarter Results; Reflects Expensing of Equity
Compensation

IBM today announced first- quarter 2005 diluted earnings per common share of
$.85 from continuing operations as reported, including the effect of expensing
share-based compensation, compared with diluted earnings on a similar basis of
$.79 per share in the first quarter of 2004, an increase of 8 percent. First-
quarter income from continuing operations was $1.41 billion, including the
adoption of expensing equity compensation, compared with $1.36 billion a year
ago, an increase of 3 percent. Revenues from continuing operations for the first
quarter were $22.9 billion, up 3 percent, compared with revenues of $22.2
billion for the first quarter of 2004.

Earlier this month, IBM announced its intention to expense equity compensation
in the first quarter. The adoption is based on the implementation guidance
provided in the SEC's release of Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 107, and in
accordance with the FASB's revised Statement of Financial Accounting Standards
(SFAS) No. 123(R), 'Share- based Payments.'

Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM chairman and chief executive officer, said: 'After a
strong start, we had difficulty closing transactions in the final weeks of the
quarter, especially in countries with soft economic conditions, as well as with
short-term Global Services signings. As a result, we did not achieve all of our
goals for the quarter. Middleware software and midrange systems results were
solid, and we grew significantly in Business Performance Transformation Services
and in the emerging markets of China, Brazil, India and Eastern Europe. We
returned nearly $4 billion to investors in the quarter through share repurchases
and dividends. We are taking appropriate measures to sharpen our execution, as
we continue to implement our global growth strategies.'

First-quarter revenue growth of 3 percent (1 percent, adjusting for currency)
was driven by growth in the Americas and Europe/Middle East/Africa. In the
Americas, first-quarter revenues from continuing operations were $9.3 billion,
up 2 percent (1 percent, adjusting for currency) from the 2004 period. Revenues
from Europe/Middle East/Africa were $7.7 billion, an increase of 7 percent (2
percent, adjusting for currency). Asia-Pacific revenues grew 1 percent (down 2
percent, adjusting for currency) to $5.2 billion. OEM revenues increased 3
percent to $691 million compared with the first quarter of 2004.

Revenues grew in four of IBM's five industry sectors in the first quarter led by
the Distribution sector, as well as growth in sales to Small and Medium
Businesses.

Revenues from Global Services, including maintenance, increased 6 percent (3
percent, adjusting for currency) to $11.7 billion in the first quarter. Global
Services revenues, excluding maintenance, increased 7 percent (4 percent,
adjusting for currency). IBM signed services contracts totaling $10.0 billion
and ended the quarter with an estimated services backlog, including Strategic
Outsourcing, Business Consulting Services, Integrated Technology Services and
Maintenance, of $110 billion.

In addition to these signings and backlog figures there were about $200 million
of Engineering and Technology Services signings to provide Business Performance
Transformation Services customers with design skill and technical capabilities.

Hardware revenues from continuing operations were essentially flat (down 2
percent, adjusting for currency) to $6.7 billion in the first quarter versus the
first quarter of 2004. Revenues from the Systems and Technology Group totaled
$3.9 billion for the quarter, up 2 percent on eServer revenue increases. This
includes a 12 percent increase in pSeries UNIX servers, which is expected to
gain market share in the first quarter, and an 8 percent increase in xSeries
servers. Revenues from the zSeries mainframe product decreased 16 percent
compared with the prior-year quarter. The total delivery of zSeries computing
power as measured in MIPS (millions of instructions per second) decreased 11
percent. Revenues for the iSeries midrange servers increased 1 percent. Storage
Systems and Technology OEM increased 5 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
Revenues from Personal Systems Group decreased 3 percent to $2.7 billion. In the
fourth-quarter 2004, IBM announced an agreement to sell the Personal Computing
Division, a unit of the Personal Systems Group, which is expected to close in
the second-quarter 2005.

Revenues from Software were $3.6 billion, an increase of 2 percent (flat,
adjusting for currency) compared with the first quarter of 2004. Revenues from
IBM's middleware brands, which include WebSphere, DB2, Rational, Tivoli and
Lotus products, were $2.8 billion, up 3 percent versus the first quarter of
2004. Operating systems revenues decreased 2 percent to $590 million compared
with the first quarter of 2004.

Revenues for WebSphere family of software products, which facilitates customers'
ability to manage a wide variety of business processes using open standards to
interconnect applications, data and operating systems, increased 11 percent.
Revenues for Information Management increased 5 percent including revenues for
DB2 database software, which enables clients to leverage information on demand,
increased 9 percent. Revenues from Tivoli software (infrastructure software that
enables customers to centrally manage networks and storage) increased 15
percent, and revenues for Lotus software, which allows collaborating and
messaging by customers in real-time communication and knowledge management,
increased 11 percent. Revenues from Rational software (integrated development
tools) were flat compared with the first quarter of 2004.

As a result, IBM expects to gain or hold market share for the first quarter in
the collaborative software, systems management and security software, Web
services and data management categories.

Global Financing revenues declined 12 percent (15 percent, adjusting for
currency) in the first quarter to $580 million. Revenues from the Enterprise
Investments/Other area, which includes industry- specific IT solutions such as
product life-cycle management software, increased 15 percent (12 percent,
adjusting for currency) to $332 million compared with the first quarter of 2004.

The company's total gross profit margin from continuing operations was 36.0
percent in the 2005 first quarter, which includes the effect of expensing equity
compensation, compared with 35.6 percent in the first quarter of 2004 on a
similar basis.

In the first quarter of 2005, total expense and other income from continuing
operations increased 5 percent to $6.2 billion and, coupled with the revenue
increase of 3 percent, IBM's total expense-to-revenue ratio increased 0.5 points
to 27.3 percent. For the quarter, the reporting periods reflect the adoption of
expensing equity compensation as it relates to both selling, general and
administrative (SG&A) expense and research, development and engineering (RD&E)
expense. SG&A expense increased 6 percent to $4.9 billion. RD&E expense
increased 3 percent to $1.5 billion. Intellectual property and custom
development income increased to $219 million compared with $180 million a year
ago. Other (income) and expense was $22 million of net expense in the first
quarter of 2005 versus $13 million in the same period last year.

IBM's effective tax rate from continuing operations in the first quarter 2005
was 30.0 percent, compared with 30.1 percent in the first quarter of 2004.

Share repurchases totaled approximately $3.4 billion in the first quarter. The
weighted-average number of diluted common shares outstanding in the
first-quarter 2005 was 1.66 billion compared with 1.73 billion shares in the
same period of 2004. As of March 31, 2005, there were 1.61 billion basic common
shares outstanding.

IBM ended the first quarter of 2005 with $8.7 billion of cash on hand. The
balance sheet remains strong, and the company is well positioned to take
advantage of opportunities.

Debt, including Global Financing, totaled $23.4 billion, compared with $22.9
billion at year-end 2004. From a management segment view, the non-global
financing debt-to-capitalization ratio was 5.3 percent at the end of March 31,
2005, and Global Financing debt declined $413 million from year-end 2004 to a
total of $21.9 billion, resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.7 to 1.

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein,
statements contained in this release may constitute forward- looking statements
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially, as discussed in the company's
filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Presentation of Information in this Press Release

In an effort to provide investors with additional information regarding the
company's results as determined by generally accepted accounting principles
(GAAP), the company has also disclosed in this press release the following
non-GAAP information which management believes provides useful information to
investors:

- adjusting for currency

The rationale for management's use of non-GAAP measures is included as part of
the supplementary materials presented within the first- quarter earnings
materials. These materials are available on the IBM investor relations Web site
at www.ibm.com/investor and will be included in a subsequent filing of a Form
8-K with the SEC.

Conference Call and Webcast

IBM's regular quarterly earnings conference call is scheduled to begin at 6:00
p.m. EDT, today. Investors may participate by viewing the Webcast at
www.ibm.com/investor/1q05.

Financial Results Attached

          INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
                 COMPARATIVE FINANCIAL RESULTS
   (Unaudited; Dollars in millions except per share amounts)


                              Three Months Ended March 31
                                                  Percent
                                 2005      2004*   Change
                              -------   -------   -------
REVENUE

 Global Services              $11,696   $11,024      6.1%
  Gross profit margin            24.3%     23.7%

 Hardware                       6,749     6,735      0.2%
  Gross profit margin            27.5%     26.5%

 Software                       3,551     3,466      2.4%
  Gross profit margin            86.4%     85.9%

 Global Financing                 580       662    -12.5%
  Gross profit margin            54.2%     60.5%

 Enterprise Investments/
 Other                            332       288     15.2%
  Gross profit margin            52.5%     39.5%


TOTAL REVENUE                  22,908    22,175      3.3%


GROSS PROFIT                    8,254     7,892      4.6%
  Gross profit margin            36.0%     35.6%


EXPENSE AND OTHER INCOME

 S,G&A                          4,933     4,658      5.9%
  Expense to revenue             21.5%     21.0%

 R,D&E                          1,459     1,416      3.0%
  Expense to revenue              6.4%      6.4%

 Intellectual property
  and custom development
  income                         (219)     (180)    21.9%
 Other (income) and expense        22        13     71.3%
 Interest expense                  49        35     40.0%

TOTAL EXPENSE AND
OTHER INCOME                    6,244     5,942      5.1%
  Expense to revenue             27.3%     26.8%

INCOME FROM CONTINUING
OPERATIONS BEFORE
INCOME TAXES                    2,010     1,950      3.1%
  Pre-tax margin                  8.8%      8.8%

Provision for
income taxes                      603       586      2.8%
  Effective tax rate             30.0%     30.1%

INCOME FROM CONTINUING
OPERATIONS                     $1,407    $1,364      3.2%
  Net margin                      6.1%      6.1%

DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS
Loss from discontinued
operations                          5         1

NET INCOME                     $1,402    $1,363      2.9%
                               ======    ======

EARNINGS/(LOSS)PER SHARE
OF COMMON STOCK:

 ASSUMING DILUTION
  CONTINUING
   OPERATIONS                   $0.85     $0.79      7.6%
  DISCONTINUED
   OPERATIONS                   (0.00)    (0.00)
                               ------    ------
  TOTAL                         $0.84**   $0.79      6.3%
                               ======    ======
 BASIC
  CONTINUING
   OPERATIONS                   $0.86     $0.81      6.2%
  DISCONTINUED
   OPERATIONS                   (0.00)    (0.00)
                               ------    ------
  TOTAL                         $0.86     $0.81      6.2%
                               ======    ======
WEIGHTED-AVERAGE NUMBER
OF COMMON SHARES
OUTSTANDING (M's)
  ASSUMING DILUTION           1,660.6   1,727.4
  BASIC                       1,628.7   1,691.7


* Restated first-quarter 2004 financial results to include the impact
  of share-based compensation expense.

** Does not total due to rounding.

               INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
              CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
                              (Unaudited)


                                         At           At
(Dollars in millions)              March 31, December 31,  Percent
                                       2005         2004*   Change
                                -----------  -----------   -------
ASSETS

 Cash, cash equivalents,
 and marketable securities           $8,651      $10,570    -18.2%

 Receivables - net, inventories,
 prepaid expenses                    32,692       36,573    -10.6%

 Plant, rental machines,
 and other property - net            14,708       15,175     -3.1%

 Investments and other assets        48,848       48,685      0.3%
                                   --------     --------

TOTAL ASSETS                       $104,899     $111,003     -5.5%
                                   ========     ========


LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

 Short-term debt                     $6,329       $8,099    -21.9%
 Long-term debt                      17,083       14,828     15.2%
                                   --------     --------
 Total debt                          23,412       22,927      2.1%

 Accounts payable, taxes,
 and accruals                        27,493       31,687    -13.2%

 Other liabilities                   24,074       24,701     -2.5%
                                   --------     --------
TOTAL LIABILITIES                    74,979       79,315     -5.5%

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY                 29,920       31,688     -5.6%
                                   --------     --------
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY               $104,899     $111,003     -5.5%
                                   ========     ========

* Restated 2004 financial position to include the impact of
  share-based compensation expense.


                    INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
                                   SEGMENT DATA
                                   (Unaudited)

                                      FIRST QUARTER 2005
                         ---------------------------------------------
                                                       Pre-tax
                                                        Income
                                                        (Loss)
                                                          From
(Dollars in millions)    -------- Revenue --------- Continuing Pre-tax
                         External Internal    Total Operations  Margin
                         -------- --------  ------- ---------- -------
SEGMENTS

Global Services          $11,696     $745   $12,441      $942     7.6%
  % change                   6.1%    -2.2%      5.6%     -4.9%
Systems and Technology
Group                      3,869      235     4,104       109     2.7%
  % change                   2.5%    -0.4%      2.3%    -35.9%
Personal Systems Group     2,739       32     2,771       (17)   -0.6%
  % change                  -3.1%    39.1%     -2.7%    -54.5%
Software                   3,551      461     4,012       893    22.3%
  % change                   2.4%    15.0%      3.7%      4.6%
Global Financing             579      449     1,028       396    38.5%
  % change                 -12.9%    60.4%      8.8%      5.9%
Enterprise Investments       292        2       294       (32)  -10.9%
  % change                   6.2%     0.0%      6.1%     38.5%

TOTAL SEGMENTS            22,726    1,924    24,650     2,291     9.3%
  % change                   3.1%    12.9%      3.9%     -1.5%

Eliminations / Other         182   (1,924)   (1,742)     (281)

TOTAL IBM                $22,908       $0   $22,908    $2,010     8.8%
  % change                   3.3%               3.3%      3.1%

                                      FIRST QUARTER 2004
                       -----------------------------------------------
                                                       Pre-tax
                                                        Income
                                                        (Loss)
                                                          From
(Dollars in millions)    -------- Revenue --------- Continuing Pre-tax
                         External Internal    Total Operations  Margin
                         -------- --------  ------- ---------- -------

SEGMENTS

Global Services          $11,024     $762   $11,786      $991     8.4%
Systems and Technology
Group                      3,776      236     4,012       170     4.2%
Personal Systems Group     2,826       23     2,849       (11)   -0.4%
Software                   3,466      401     3,867       854    22.1%
Global Financing             665      280       945       374    39.6%
Enterprise Investments       275        2       277       (52)  -18.8%

TOTAL SEGMENTS            22,032    1,704    23,736     2,326     9.8%

Eliminations / Other         143   (1,704)   (1,561)     (376)

TOTAL IBM*               $22,175       $0   $22,175    $1,950     8.8%


* Restated first-quarter 2004 financial results to include the impact
  of share-based compensation expense.


    CONTACT: IBM
             Edward Barbini, 914-499-6565
             [e-mail]