Instant view: IBM's Q2 results, signings beat Street

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp's quarterly profit rose 8 percent, buoyed by strong growth in sales of computers and software.

Commentary:

JOSEPH FORESI, JANNEY CAPITAL MARKETS

AMIT DARYANANI, ANALYST, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

"It's a good quarter. They raised full-year guide. So from an execution basis, all the numbers look good. But what will move the stock near-term is that signings number.

"If you adjusted the currency, revenue is still growing at 5 percent year over year. That's still impressive given how big and defensive IBM is.

"The big thing that has always tended to move the stock rightfully or wrongfully near-term has always been the services signing number, which they haven't disclosed yet. That's the number that everyone kind of focuses on."

KIM CAUGHEY FORREST, SENIOR ANALYST, FORT PITT CAPITAL

I'm a little confused as to why the shares are down because the margins were very strong and the revenue, especially in the second quarter when you expect softer revenue, makes it look like they did well in the quarter.

"Margins are the name of the game for this business. Through the years, they've divested themselves of the more commodity-like businesses and I think it shows they are managing their business and have picked correctly."

RICHARD SICHEL, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, PHILADELPHIA TRUST

"They beat on earnings per share and they beat pretty well on their revenues versus expectations. They did raise their guidance by 10 cents so I would say, in general, it looks like a good report.

"If the stock is down, it is based on high expectations on the stock, which has performed well versus the market this year."

(Reporting by Liana Baker in New York and Alexei Oreskovic and Noel Randewich in San Francisco)