Software and Consulting Power IBM's Earnings Beat

International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) successfully spun off its managed infrastructure services business late last year. Around $19 billion of annual revenue went out the door, but that revenue was slow-growing and low-margin. What's left of IBM -- high-margin software, a vast consulting business, and specialized hardware -- is no longer being dragged down by that legacy business.

The century-old tech giant now sees growth as the new normal, a sea change from the past decade. With hybrid cloud computing at the center of nearly everything the company does, IBM may finally be ready to emerge from the funk that has kept its stock depressed for years.

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Source Fool.com