IBM said its board approved an additional $5.0 billion in share repurchases, bringing the company's total stock buyback program to $9.2 billion in a reflection of its strong cash flow.

The buyback would add to around $4.2 billion remaining at the end of September from a previously approved plan, with the total amount representing around 5.9 percent of IBM's $157 billion market capitalization.

It's a decent size, said Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall. He said one of the key components of IBM's earnings growth in the past few years was through share buybacks.

This is in conjunction with what they've been doing in the past few years and I think they're trying to get the stock moving.

Shares in International Business Machines Corp rose 1.2 percent to $121.57 after the announcement.

Chief Executive Samuel Palmisano said IBM has returned $73 billion since 2003 to shareholders.

The company said it will occasionally repurchase shares on the open market or in private transactions, depending on market conditions.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Gunna Dickson)

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