Moody's: IBM unchanged

Moody's Investors Service said that International Business Machines Corp.'s (IBM) Aa3 senior unsecured credit rating is unaffected by news that its board authorized an additional $7 billion to its stock repurchase plan.

The rating remains supported by the strengthening business profile, which includes a growing emphasis on higher-margin software and services businesses in place of more commoditized hardware offerings, said Richard Lane, a Moody's analyst.

The outlook is stable.

Given IBM's improving revenue mix, the agency said it expects its credit metrics and operating performance will improve and remain robust through business cycles.

The rating also considers IBM's conservative capital structure, robust liquidity profile and the expectation that it will manage share repurchase activity within the context of its free cash flow generation after considering acquisitions opportunities, Moody's said.

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