IT equipment and services provider IBM reported results for the second quarter yesterday, beating analysts’ estimates with high profit and operating margin.

The company reported a 6 percent increase in net income to $3.9 billion, with operating earnings per share up 14 percent to $3.51. That’s a lot more than the 10 percent rise to $3.42 that the market was expecting, although not all that surprising considering that Big Blue managed to outperform Wall Street’s consensus estimate for the past 8 consecutive years.

IBM is doing well internally, but its income reflects an industry-wide slowdown that, among other things, also impacts the tech giant’s services business. Revenue stood at $25.8 billion, down 3 percent year-over-year and $500 million short of the number the market predicted. There’s also this:

“Revenue from I.B.M.’s big services businesses fell slightly to $14.7 billion, but profit margins and income rose sharply. “We manage these businesses for profit and cash generation,” Mr. [Mark] Loughridge said.”

IBM’s CEO said that a stronger dollar shaved about one billion off his company’s international sales, but it’s still very evident that the industry is cooling down. Chipmaker AMD is one of several major firms that cut their revenue guidance in the past week or so. The Big Blue itself remained fairly consistent, and raised its full year guidance for the 15^th consecutive quarter to “at least $15.10 a share.”

Another recent earnings call that analysts and investors paid special attention to was Intel’s. The company reported that its PC group grew by a mere 3 percent, much lower than expectations of a ‘high single-digit’ rise, but at the same time its data center business shined with a 14 increase.

It looks like enterprise are very willing to invest in new equipment, but are getting more timid with their cash when it comes to services.