IBM on Thursday posted its third quarter results, and for the most part, it was all good news for Big Blue. Compared to last year, the company posted better numbers pretty much across the board.

IBM report third quarter diluted earnings of $2.40 per share, up 18 percent over last year's earnings of $2.04 per share. Net income also shot up by double-digit percentage points and settled at $3.2 billion, up from $2.8 billion last year, which is a 14 percent gain.

"We continued to invest for growth in areas where clients see potential for value creation including Smarter Planet solutions, cloud computing, and advanced business analytics," the company said in a statement. "We are optimistic about 2009 as we again raise our full-expectations and we remain well had of pace for our 2010 roadmap of $10 to $11 per share."

By the end of the year, IBM said it now expects full-year earnings to hit $9.85 per share compared with its previous expectation of at least $9.70 per share.

Image Credit: IBM