IBM: Will I Ever Make Any Money?

IBM (NYSE:IBM) has a lot of moving parts, and a vociferous crowd of critics. In the process of analysis, it's easy to be overwhelmed by complexity, or sidetracked into refuting mindless attacks by the ill-informed. In the interest of simplicity, this article focuses on hard evidence of the company's progress in exploiting the developing market for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, or Cognitive Computing. The quarterly and annual financial results provide segment information, to include year over year revenue growth and pre-tax margins. Looking at 2Q 2016, Cognitive Solutions at 4.4% is the only segment showing growth, and at 27.5% the second highest (after Global Financing) in pre-tax margins.