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Thought this snapshot of the IT services industry market leaders would be helpful: (IBM #1 market share with 6.6%)

http://www.bloomberg.com/visual-data/industries/detail/it-services

 

And Software Industry Leaders: (IBM #2 market share with 7.5%)

http://www.bloomberg.com/visual-data/industries/detail/software

 

Interesting to compare the "performance metrics" of various competitors.

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ibm-signs-1-25-billion-220232763.html

 

"IBM seeks to differentiate its offering by focussing on hybrid clouds, which mix together the private, on-premise computer systems for which it has long been known with newer public-facing Internet, mobile and analytics systems, allowing clients to move existing systems to the cloud at their own pace.

 

This hybrid approach means companies can wait for years before they consider moving their most sensitive core financial systems to the cloud computers. It also gives them the option of never having to move."

 

IBM Return on Equity (ttm): 93.34%

IBM PE ratio(ttm):                      10

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Low and KC,  How did you guys get comfortable with the increased leverage?

 

Why would I be uncomfortable with their debt?

- AA- debt rating

- Issuing 10 year bonds at 95 basis point premium over treasuries

 

From 2013 Annual Report:

- Total debt = 33B

- Global Financing Debt = 24.5 B

- Operating Debt = 8.5B (total debt less Global Financing debt)

- $15B FCF

- $11B cash and securities

- $10B untapped credit facility

- 46x interest coverage

 

Some people get confused about IBMs debt because:

a) They have an artificially high Debt/Equity ratio because they have bought back so much stock. D/E is high because of low Equity not high Debt.

b) They have a large financing arm (responsible for most of the debt). You have to remember that this debt has corresponding assets. IBM borrows at low cost and then lends out at a much higher rate. Credit quality might be a risk but I feel like this was stress-tested in the great recession.

 

Personally, I am much more worried about their pension obligations. I am not an expert on pension accounting but Buffett is.

 

 

 

 

 

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just had an order filled this afternoon. My stomach churned a little so I'm thinking I will be ok on this one.

 

I am eager to hear guidance in January. Today's price seems to imply that they will guide way down from their $20 EPS target. If they guide to $19 EPS I think it is worth at least 15% more than where it is today.

 

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In 2013, the analytics business was $16B. The entire hardware business was $14B. IBM has divested $5.5B in hardware revenue this year.

 

If my lazy math is correct, in 2015 IBMs hardware business will be smaller than Oracle's as a percent of sales.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Don't forget that there is a potential catalyst in January when IBM will give guidance.

 

I just can't see how IBM trades any lower than 9 time earnings unless something catastrophic happens. Doesn't seem unrealistic for IBM to trade at 12 PE on 2015 earnings. ($16-$18.50 EPS?) We will see soon what the forecast is for 2015...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Don't forget that there is a potential catalyst in January when IBM will give guidance.

 

I just can't see how IBM trades any lower than 9 time earnings unless something catastrophic happens. Doesn't seem unrealistic for IBM to trade at 12 PE on 2015 earnings. ($16-$18.50 EPS?) We will see soon what the forecast is for 2015...

 

2015 guidance might be a positive or negative catalyst. To me, it looks like Q3 was meant to be the "big bath" and that $150.50 will be the bottom.

 

I finally reviewed the Investor Briefing slides. They are expecting upswing in the System Z product cycle in 2015. This could trigger a change in market sentiment.

 

 

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My friend Jana recently did a write-up on IBM:

http://janav.wordpress.com/2014/12/13/ibm-revisited/

 

This is a really great blog to follow. Jana's background is very interesting. He grew up in India, but didn't have the opportunity to go to college. He studied on his own and got a job in Computer Science. Moved to the US and climbed the ranks. Joined LinkedIn early on and did very well. Jana is very thrifty and that helped him quit LinkedIn at a young age (quit in Dec 2014). He is a voracious reader and is always learning something new whenever I talk to him. Now, he plans to focus on investing full-time.

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My friend Jana recently did a write-up on IBM:

http://janav.wordpress.com/2014/12/13/ibm-revisited/

 

This is a really great blog to follow. Jana's background is very interesting. He grew up in India, but didn't have the opportunity to go to college. He studied on his own and got a job in Computer Science. Moved to the US and climbed the ranks. Joined LinkedIn early on and did very well. Jana is very thrifty and that helped him quit LinkedIn at a young age (quit in Dec 2014). He is a voracious reader and is always learning something new whenever I talk to him. Now, he plans to focus on investing full-time.

 

He seems like a really smart guy. I read his post about mental models.

http://janav.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/latticework-of-mental-models/

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My friend Jana recently did a write-up on IBM:

http://janav.wordpress.com/2014/12/13/ibm-revisited/

 

This is a really great blog to follow. Jana's background is very interesting. He grew up in India, but didn't have the opportunity to go to college. He studied on his own and got a job in Computer Science. Moved to the US and climbed the ranks. Joined LinkedIn early on and did very well. Jana is very thrifty and that helped him quit LinkedIn at a young age (quit in Dec 2014). He is a voracious reader and is always learning something new whenever I talk to him. Now, he plans to focus on investing full-time.

 

Thanks for sharing Rishi!  Nice writeup. 

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My friend Jana recently did a write-up on IBM:

http://janav.wordpress.com/2014/12/13/ibm-revisited/

 

This is a really great blog to follow. Jana's background is very interesting. He grew up in India, but didn't have the opportunity to go to college. He studied on his own and got a job in Computer Science. Moved to the US and climbed the ranks. Joined LinkedIn early on and did very well. Jana is very thrifty and that helped him quit LinkedIn at a young age (quit in Dec 2014). He is a voracious reader and is always learning something new whenever I talk to him. Now, he plans to focus on investing full-time.

 

The valuation section could have been simplified to, "I think it should trade at a 7% earnings yield."

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, I just did some basic number crunching and saw that from the beginning of 2009 (The worst of the recession) until the end of September (The most recent data).... IBM generated something like $90 Billion of free cash flow.

 

 

Does anyone believe the next six years will be much different overall?

 

 

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So, I just did some basic number crunching and saw that from the beginning of 2009 (The worst of the recession) until the end of September (The most recent data).... IBM generated something like $90 Billion of free cash flow.

 

 

Does anyone believe the next six years will be much different overall?

 

They are guiding for lower FCF conversion going forward ("in the 90s") so that will be a minor headwind.

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I get a normalized $16B fcf (Owner Earnings).  On a no-growth stock (revenue nearly unchanged for a decade), max I will pay is 10 x fcf, so values IBM at $160B, or right at $160 per share.  Giving minimum 25% discount for margin of safety, my buy price would be $120.

 

Have wondered for some time what Buffet sees in the stock, had assumed there was a growth story somewhere not obvious to me.

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