The earnings beat the expectations of financial analysts by $0.03 per share, but the revenue figure is considerably lower than the analyst forecast of $26.5 billion.

IBM reaffirmed its full-year outlook for earnings per share of at least $8.75, which would be an increase of 22 percent over fiscal 2007 and one penny short of the analyst forecast. IBM didn't provide a revenue estimate for the full year.

Shares in IBM were down 5 percent at the close of normal trading Wednesday, at $90.55. They had climbed 4 percent higher in trading after hours at the time of this report.