This year's quarterly numbers were boosted $81 million, or $0.5 per share, from the sale of IBM's printing division to Ricoh Co. Without that gain, IBM would have seen net profit rise 8 %, and it would have earned $1.50 per share. The company's overall profit margins increased slightly, and it registered healthy growth in each of its major global regions, overcoming a stumble in the prior period in the U.S.

IBM's hardware division saw revenue rise 2 percent to $5.1 billion, sales of IBM's key mainframe computers were up only 1 % in real terms, and chip sales continued to flounder. IBM software revenue grew 13% to $4.8 billion in the second quarter, and pre-tax profit was up 8% to $1.25 billion.

In the first six months of the year, IBM earned $4.11 billion, $2.75 per share, with revenue of $45.8 billion. Those numbers all rose from the first half of 2006, when IBM showed profit of $3.73 billion, $2.37 per share, and revenue of $42.5 billion. (AP)