IBM this morning issued an earnings warning saying it expects first-quarter profits will be between 66 and 70 cents per share, down sharply from the 85 cents expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call. Revenues for the quarter are expected to come in at between US$18.4 billion to $18.6 billion compared with $21.0 billion a year ago. Shares of IBM were down nearly $8 to $89.30 in pre-open trading following the warning and are expected to weigh down other tech stocks today.
