On The Fly: What to watch for in IBM's earnings report

IBM (IBM) is scheduled to report results of its third fiscal quarter after the market close on October 17, with a conference call scheduled for 5:00 pm ET. What to watch for: 1. FY EPS CONSENUS UP A TICK: Along with its last report, IBM reaffirmed its fiscal 2017 adjusted earnings per share guidance of at least $13.80. At the time, analysts expected the company to report FY17 adjusted EPS of $13.68, but that figure has since risen to $13.75. 2. CLOUD GROWTH: In its last report, IBM reported second quarter Cloud revenue of $3.9B, which marked a 17% year-over-year increase, excluding constant currency. On its quarterly conference call, the company said that Cloud made up roughly 20% of total revenue in Q2 and noted that it added more "leading" companies to IBM Cloud in the quarter. 3. TRUMP FORUM: On August 16, the New York Times reported that members of President Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum were on the verge of disbanding following controversial comments the president made following the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The council included BlackRock's (BLK) Laurence Fink and IBM chief executive officer Ginni Rometty. Before members of the forum could officially make a decision on the matter, President Trump tweeted that he was ending the forum, saying he was trying to avoid "putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum." In response, Rometty said that the forum could not serve its purpose any longer, according to CNBC. 4. BLOCKCHAIN: On Monday, IBM announced a new blockchain banking solution to "address the processes of universal cross-border payments." The service, which is called IBM Blockchain, is intended to improve the speed at which banks both clear and settle payment transactions on a single network in near real time, the company said. IBM added that it has convened an initial group of diverse banking leaders as part of the development and deployment process, including Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Bank Danamon Indonesia, Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Permata, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Kasikornbank Thailand, Mizuho Financial Group, National Australia Bank, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Philippines, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, TD Bank, Wizdraw of WorldCom Finance, and other financial institutions. Blockchain technology has been used as a core component of the digital currency bitcoin.