<A HREF="http://www.cio.com/article/336164/IBM_Earnings_Beat_Analyst_Expectations">IBM beat analyst expectations</A> for the first quarter and the company pointed to its global reach in helping to drive growth despite a challenging market.

First quarter revenue was US$24.5 billion, up 11 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expected quarterly revenue of $23.7 billion, based on a consensus collected by Thomson Financial.