IBM Common Stock (IBM)

Were very successful over a long period of time of growing earnings at a much faster rate than the revenue was growing. Did this through capital planning and cost cutting initiatives. They set targets and when they reached those targets there is only so much you can cut. This has reached that point. Earnings growth is now starting to match or move back to what their revenue growth is. Doesn’t think there is a lot of growth left

Has really had no revenue growth for the last number of years, but have been generating earnings per share growth because they have very smart management, but also because they have been using their cash to buy back shares. Basically it is a zero growth company, but extremely well run. Has market leadership in the number of various including IP outsourcing. Neither cheap nor expensive and he doesn’t see huge upside. They will be suffering with a strong US$.

Likes this. A fairly inexpensive way to play the enterprise computing space. Was a dramatic under performer last year and we are now seeing stocks get actually bought here. This makes complete sense and he would stick with it if you own.

Has struggled growing its top line. Growing its EPS but the only reason it has been doing this is because it has been taking on debt to buy back shares. You can only do so much with that strategy. Has the potential to do very well but she prefers others.

A wonderful company and it got unfairly punished when its earnings came out. The market was a little too severe on them. He thinks Fair Value is somewhere in the $190-$200 range. Feels the dividend will rise over time.

Has had softer quarters recently creating lower stock prices. Have some opportunities down the road. Recently announced a significant increase to their share buybacks, which is good for the near-term in keeping the stock at a certain floor level. Concerns on shifting over to Cloud along with other competitors are giving them some challenges, but they have the capacity to handle this. Their ability to stick handle the next few quarters will be challenging but current downturn is a longer-term buying opportunity. (See Past Top Picks and Top Picks.)

(A Top Pick Nov 19/12. Down 3.19%.) Still pays a very handsome dividend and they won’t fade away into nothing like other tech companies have. This is an opportunity to pick some up while it is going through its transitional issues. He can see it trading at around $220.

Sell and buy Apple? You don’t want to put a disproportionate amount of your money in any one company because you will probably be wrong. Diversify. IBM has done well over the last 5 years and done well from a management point of view. A lot of incremental gain has been through cost cutting, and it exhausts itself at some point and so their growth is going to slow. Apple is a growth vehicle. The 5S is a big hit and margins should be good. 2014 should show new products for Apple.

No appetite for IBM, not enough growth. It is not a bad company but it does not have the growth prospects of other technology companies.

Large cap, slower than average growth rate, tech company. Better growth elsewhere. You are going to get a decent dividend that will grow over time.

They have not got on cloud computing as fast as competitors. Buying back stock at a reasonable rate, good dividend but he prefers another (See Top Picks)

Owned for a bit but noticed they were struggling to grow their top line. Until you see an uptick in top line growth rate it won’t do much.

Came off their highs. Use cost cutting successfully. Bolstered earnings over a multi-year period. It is a low growth company, but very stable and predictable. A high percentage (70%) is software and services and is recurring. It is relatively fully priced and they have run most of the costs fully out of the business.

What are the key factors that you look at in assessing the prospects for future growth? What are your favourite metrics in relating those growth factors to the valuation of the stock? There is a lot of cash flow generation. They have a component that is recurring revenue. She sold out of her holdings because she didn’t see growth on the top line. There was earnings growth, but that was essentially because they were taking on debt to buy back shares. There is only so long that you can play that game. A lot of tech stocks have to reinvent themselves and this is in that category. If you see an uptick in revenue, that is probably the best catalyst for the stock.

This company is in the right neighbourhood because tech, as a group, is showing some strength. However, this company is probably not the best choice in the group right now. Likes the sector and he would look at SPDR Semiconductor ETF (XSD-N) or the PowerShare QQQ ETF (QQQ-Q).