Big Blue (NYSE: IBM) recently reported its second-quarter results that delivered a surprise stellar performance. The company delivered the strongest revenue growth in three years and outpaced market expectations on both earnings and revenues. The results helped drive its stock upwards by 4%.

IBM’s Financials

Revenues for the quarter grew 3% $18.7 billion, ahead of the Street’s estimates of $18.29 billion. Adjusted earnings of $2.33 a share were also ahead of the $2.29 that the market estimated.

By segment, revenues from Cloud & Cognitive Software that includes Cloud & Data Platforms such as Red Hat, Cognitive Applications, and Transaction Processing Platforms grew 2% to $6.1 billion. Within the segment, Cloud & Data Platforms grew 8%.

Revenues from Global Business Services (GBS) that include Consulting, Application Management, and Global Process Services grew 7% to $4.3 billion. Revenues from Global Technology Services (GTS) that includes Infrastructure & Cloud Services and Technology Support Services fell 4.1% to $6.3 billion. Revenues from its Systems segment that includes Systems Hardware and Operating Systems Software fell 10.2% to $1.7 billion and Global Financing revenues fell 11.6% to $242 million.

IBM did not provide any outlook for the quarter of the year.

IBM’s Acquisitions

IBM continues to make several acquisitions as it transforms itself into an AI, Machine Learning, and cloud services-based organization. Earlier this summer, IBM announced the acquisition of Waeg, a leading Salesforce Consulting Partner in Europe. Brussels-based Waeg was founded in 2014 and is a leader in the Salesforce ecosystem, working with leading global brands across industries with deep expertise in manufacturing, healthcare, and life sciences. It provides end-to-end services on Salesforce ranging from consulting services, digital strategy advisory, business-to-business commerce, marketing automation, and customer experience design to implementation and managed services.

The acquisition will help extend IBM’s portfolio of Salesforce services and advance its hybrid cloud and AI strategy. IBM plans to leverage the acquisition to enhance its continued investment in Salesforce consulting services to meet the growing demand for experience-led business transformation and new customer engagement strategies backed by data, AI, and machine learning. According to an IDC report, the global CRM consulting and systems integration services market is estimated to grow to $21 billion by 2024. IBM is expanding its presence in that market by integrating AI, data, and analytics across enterprises to automate workflows and transform the way clients do business.

IBM recently also announced the acquisition of Maryland-based BoxBoat Technologies. Founded in 2016 by Ken Mellett, Tim Hohman, and Will Kinard, BoxBoat offers services to accelerate the enterprise adoption of modern DevOps toolchains, container technologies, and cloud solutions. The acquisition will allow IBM to extend its container strategy and implementation services portfolio, further advancing its hybrid cloud strategy while also accelerating Red Hat OpenShift adoption globally. Funding and deal details of BoxBoat were not disclosed.

Its stock is currently trading at $141.3 with a market capitalization of $126.3 billion. It touched a 52-week high of $152.84 in June this year and a 52-week low of $105.92 in October last year.