IBM reported quarterly earnings and revenue Tuesday that exceeded analysts' predictions, largely on the back of growth in emerging markets.
The world's largest technology services company's shares rose after the closing bell, following the news.
What is IBM stock doing now? (Click here for the latest after-hours quotes.)
Earnings excluding items rose to $5.39 per share from $4.71 a share in the year-earlier period.
Revenue eased less than 1 percent to $29.30 billion from $29.49 billion a year ago.
Net income was $5.8 billion, up 5 percent from the year-ago quarter's $5.5 billion.
Wall Street had expected IBM to report earnings excluding items of $5.25 a share on $29.09 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates.
Revenue in Brazil, India, Russia and China increased by 7 percent in the quarter, or 12 percent adjusted for currency fluctuations.
Some analysts said IBM's results were a sign that the tech spending environment was improving.
"It is better than what people had feared," said Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI Group.
"Virtually every segment did a little bit better than people expected. It supports the fact that things are getting better out there at least from a tech industry standpoint."
Reuters contributed to this report.