Unlike Yahoo, IBM seems to be actually faring quite well, despite losses for many companies in the industry and many failed avenues for IBM. They chose to play it safe (at least as far as companies go) and it's paid off. Large layoffs, selling off parts of the company like their PC business (and much like they did to ThinkPad a while back) and other things have all added up to IBM turning a very healthy profit this quarter.
"Our performance underscores the strength of our business model across a balanced portfolio of software, services and hardware, and demonstrates the benefits of the strategic actions we've taken in recent years to reposition the company," said CEO Sam Palmisano.
They seem pretty satisfied. While the article does bring out the "mixed-bag" that IBM is, despite any floundering avenues they have pursued in the past, they are, and remain, the largest technology company in the world. It does beg the question of what "big things" IBM has planned, though.