IBM is expected to post its second quarter earnings this afternoon, and many analysts are predicting that the results will be strong. The profit estimates for IBM average out to about $3.42 per share, which is a 10% increase from a year earlier. Profits are expected to increase by 12.2% this year.

How has IBM managed to stay strong in these difficult economic times? A focus on big data and the cloud seem to be the keys to the company’s continued success. IBM has also put a great amount of effort into its supercomputing project, Sequoia, and that will likely continue.

In Q1 of 2012, IBM earned $3.07 billion, up from $2.86 million earned in Q1 of 2011. Revenue earnings for the first three months of 2012 were flat, but IBM still managed to gain 7% in net income due to strong profit margins. Analysts predict that Q2 revenue will continue to be strong, and profit will also remain strong, thanks largely in part to its major push into the big data and cloud arenas. This will be IBM’s fourth straight revenue increase.

Other analysts are not so optimistic. Trader Simon Baker, chief executive of Baker Avenue Assessment Management thinks Big Blue “could be in a little trouble“. According to Baker, IBM just scraped by last quarter, and he remains skeptical.

Nevertheless, all of that could be relative, as IBM may very well post stronger numbers than major competitors. Some expect Cisco, Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Dell to take a turn for the worse. Analyst Shaw Wu of Sterne Agee says IBM continues to be among the best players in the enterprise IT market. Time will certainly tell for the company that has stood the test of time for past 100 years.