IBM's revenue beats Street as cloud push begins to pay off

(Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp's quarterly revenue beat analysts' estimates, as the company's shift to high-growth areas such as cloud-based services begins to yield results.

Under Chief Executive Ginni Rometty, IBM has been moving towards areas such as cloud-based services, security software and data analytics, while trimming its traditional hardware business by exiting low-margin businesses.

The company's revenue fell 4.6 percent to $18.68 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, but beat analysts' average estimate of $18.29 billion.

The company posted its 16th straight quarter of revenue decline.

Revenue from "strategic imperatives", which include cloud and mobile computing, data analytics, social and security software, rose about 14 percent in the first quarter.

Cloud revenue increased 34 percent.

Excluding items, IBM earned $2.35 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $2.09.

The company maintained its full-year adjusted earnings guidance of at least $13.50 per share.

Up to Monday's close, IBM's shares had risen 10.83 percent this year, compared with the 2.46 percent gain in the S&P 500 index .

(Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)