IBM to make 'major' announcement Monday

SAN FRANCISCO — IBM on Sunday said it would make a "major" business announcement early Monday morning and separately release its third-quarter earnings.

Like many tech companies, IBM typically reports its quarterly earnings after the markets close. Instead, the company will do that and make its separate news announcement at 7 a.m. ET.

It was not specific about the nature of the announcement.

Ahead of the quarterly earnings report, speculation centered on IBM dumping its microchip manufacturing unit, possibly to Santa Clara, Calif.-based GlobalFoundries. Bloomberg, citing two people with knowledge of the matter, on Sunday was reporting that IBM would pay GlobalFoundries $1.5 billion to take over the unit.

IBM's chip division has reported declining revenue for a couple of years, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal.

IBM shares closed Friday at $182.05 per share, up $2.21.

Analysts expect IBM to post earnings of $4.32 a share in the third quarter, according to Yahoo Finance. That compares to $3.99 a share the year before.