Tech giant IBM has dismissed a report saying it was to cut 100,000 staff or 26% of its workforce, calling the claims "ridiculous" and "baseless".
The article was published last week on Forbes.com and referred to the lay-offs as "Project Chrome", which was described as "the biggest reorganization in IBM history".
The author went on: "Project Chrome is finally upon us, triggered I suppose by this week’s announcement of an 11th consecutive quarter of declining revenue for IBM... Customers and employees alike should expect the worst."
IBM spokesman Ian Colley "flatly denies" the claims, the Associated Press reported and in a statement IBM said it has previously announced redundancies affecting "several thousand people," only "a small fraction" of the number predicted.
The company called the speculation "stupid" and "ridiculous" and added that IBM "still makes huge profit".
And while that’s good news for employees, investors appeared to have welcomed the idea of big changes at IBM.
Between Thursday, when the report was posted online, and Monday morning's denial, IBM shares rose about 4 per cent to peak at $159.46. The stock closed up just 49 cents at $156.36.
Such a huge layoff would be disruptive and "inconsistent" with IBM's recent statements, Bernstein Research analyst AM Sacconaghi said in a note to investors.
But, "ironically, given the stock's increase over the last couple trading days, we also see the potential for disappointment if a meaningful workforce action is not announced in the near-term".
Responding to the denial on Monday the author of the Forbes report conceded that IBM "doesn’t like me".
However, he stuck to his guns, writing: "I think IBM is dissembling, fixating on the term 110,000 layoffs, which by the way I never used."
IBM is confronting a sales slump as it struggles to adapt to big changes in the way businesses buy software and other commercial technology.
It issued another disappointing earnings report last week, as both revenue and profit fell in the December quarter.
Chief executive Virginia Rometty says she's working to refocus the company on new tech markets, including data analytics, artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
Its planned layoffs are aimed making cuts in some areas to then hire about 15,000 workers with new skills. As of the end of 2013, IBM had 431,212 workers.
