Morgan Stanley issued a cautious note on IBM ( IBM) following its second-quarter earnings report, maintaining an Equal-Weight rating and reiterating its $253-per-share price target.

IBM's stock price is down today as the tech giant beat Wall Street expectations for revenue and profit, but missed on this key point.

The current consensus forecasts for IBM's forthcoming earnings stand at $2.66 per share on revenue of $16.58 billion. This reflects an increase from the year-ago quarter, which saw earnings of $2.43 per share on revenue of $15.77 billion.