CLAIM #30997 · IBM (IBM) · 2022Q4 earnings call · Jan 25, 2023 · due Dec 31, 2023
“We're still going to get working capital efficiency. So our realization will definitely be up over 100%.”
James J. Kavanaugh · CFO
In context
“ut we're able to overcome some of that with the fundamental underpinnings of our business overall and still delivered almost $3 billion of free cash flow year-over-year. By the way, Russian currency by themselves is over $600 million of profit and cash we had to absorb. So now to your question about 2023, we guided, as you heard in the prepared remarks, a $10.5 billion, that's up $1.2 billion year-over-year, and again, above our $750 million year-to-year. The underpinnings of that, though, are going to be very different in 2023. Given the improving business fundamentals of our now sustainable revenue growth with a high value mix contribution, we see then continued operating leverage. So our cash PTI is going to deliver a substantial amount of that free cash flow generation year-over-year. We're still going to get working capital efficiency. So our realization will definitely be up over 100%. But that's really given the volume dynamics of what happened in the fourth quarter with a very strong and accelerated growth profile as we went through fourth quarter, we finished extremely strong on our transactional business in the month of December. So that now creates an opportunity for free cash flow generation in 2023 and that's in our guidance. And then there are some other puts and takes. Yes, we'll get modest structural actions tailwind, but they're going to be offset by a cash tax headwind for the year. So that kind of plays out 2022 and 2023 now. How does that relate to a mid-term model? First of all, we're one year into that mid-term model. And as I talked about, the dynamics in dealing with the decision to exit our Russia business and the significant US dollar appreciation, I”
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SEC filings for IBM ↗ · Claim quote is verbatim from the 2022Q4 earnings call.