The company's initiatives in emerging technology areas continue to do well. Business analytics revenue grew by 14 percent. Revenue from Smarter Planet systems, software and services grew by more than 25 percent, and cloud computing revenue doubled in the first quarter. IBM does not disclose dollar amounts for emerging technology revenue.

As a result of the first-quarter performance, IBM has revised upward its expectations for full-year earnings, to at least $14.27 per share from its former estimate of at least $14.16.

The past few months have been busy ones for the company.

Last week, the company announced it had Varicent software for its sales analysis tools. Earlier in the year, it acquired Emptoris for its supply chain analysis software and Green Hat for its software testing tools.

Also last week, the company unveiled a new line of prepackaged sets of systems, . The company expects PureSystems to address what it sees as a growing corporate need for low-management IT systems.