IBM beats fourth-quarter revenue estimates as AI clamor boosts software demand

IBM beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter revenue and profit on Wednesday, as the rapid adoption of AI boosts demand for its software services, ranging from managing vast amounts ‌of data to automating ‌IT processes.

Shares of the company rose nearly 9% in extended trading.

Businesses have doubled down on upgrading their software suites to develop data-intensive artificial ‌intelligence technology, helping sales for IT service and software providers such as IBM.