You can't hand over the keys to the kingdom just yet -- but you can show him the box they come in. There are just so many changes that have taken place, in style and substance.

The Keys To The Kingdom

While notable, this is still not enough to move the needle in a meaningful way as far as earnings -- and therefore stock performance -- is concerned.

While we are lowering our [fiscal 2003 earnings estimates] on lower revenue, we continue to believe there are cost savings-driven opportunities beyond the company's $2.5 billion target.

While our checks suggest that there was a general pickup in hardware business at the end of the March quarter, this was probably not sufficient for IBM to make our original revenue forecasts.

More importantly, it appears that the December quarter will lack the seasonal punch that Sun and others normally see, suggesting that the first signs of a recovery may not come until June,