IBM’s Numbers Come In Light

IBM rained on what had been a stellar earnings parade after the close on Wednesday.

Earnings of $1.02 a share, up 3% year-over-year, met estimates, and revenues of $21.52 billion came in shy of $21.85 billion estimates.

“Although it is too early to say that a rebound is at hand, we are confident that we will benefit from both a pick up in IT spending and an economic recovery,” CEO Sam Palmisano said in a statement.

Big Blue also announced plans to hire 10,000 employees next year.

IBM shares fell 3% after hours on the news.

Also after the close, Apple , QLogic , Netflix and E*Trade beat estimates. Redback met estimates, Siebel missed revenue estimates, and Transmeta warned.

Stocks managed to finish in the red Wednesday despite an opening gap up on Intel’s best third quarter in 25 years. Intel finished up 2% on the day after initially trading more than 5% higher.

The Nasdaq lost 4 to 1939, the S&P 500 slipped 2 to 1046, and the Dow gave back 9 to 9803. Volume rose to 1.47 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 19-12 on the NYSE, and 18-12 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 64% on the NYSE, and 52% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 397-7 on the NYSE, and 414-5 on the Nasdaq.

Novellus and Teradyne rose 3-4% on their results, and SanDisk gained 4.5% after raising guidance.

Tellabs fell 4% despite beating estimates.

SCO Group soared 32% on an upgrade.

United Online rebounded 3% after downplaying concerns about AOL’s new dial-up service.

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