International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) Trading 2% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) shot up 2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $303.67 and last traded at $302.6880. 3,318,060 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 3,829,097 shares. The stock had previously closed at $296.73.

Key International Business Machines News

Here are the key news stories impacting International Business Machines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies upgraded IBM to a Buy, arguing 2026 software acceleration from Red Hat momentum and hybrid-cloud M&A should drive revenue and margin expansion; the upgrade is being cited by other sell‑side commentary and helping sentiment. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and modeling suggest IBM’s planned acquisition of Confluent will be accretive to EBITDA and free cash flow, supporting near‑term profit/cash metrics and the company’s financial story. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Datavault AI expanded its collaboration with IBM to deploy enterprise‑grade AI at the edge in NYC and Philadelphia — a commercial win that shows IBM’s platform and partner ecosystem are being used to deliver real-world AI deployments. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: IBM and the National Retail Federation published a study showing AI increasingly shapes shopper decisions before they enter stores — useful for IBM Consulting and retail software sales but indirect and longer‑dated for revenue impact. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: IBM is on watch ahead of its fiscal Q4 report, where analysts expect low double‑digit EPS growth — the print and any forward commentary will be the next real catalyst. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: A partner of IBM (Dfns) integrated Concordium’s identity layer for compliant Web3 wallets — shows ecosystem activity around enterprise blockchain use cases, but the direct revenue impact to IBM is limited. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary on IBM’s 35% gain in 2025 and its role in quantum computing highlights longer‑term structural positives (AI, quantum), but these are background drivers rather than immediate catalysts. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on IBM. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on International Business Machines from $256.00 to $252.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of International Business Machines in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of International Business Machines from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of International Business Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $300.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research note on Friday, November 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $360.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.85.

International Business Machines Stock Up 2.0%

The stock has a market cap of $282.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $303.75 and a 200 day moving average of $281.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.20. International Business Machines had a net margin of 12.09% and a return on equity of 37.76%. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that International Business Machines Corporation will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

International Business Machines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $1.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $6.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. International Business Machines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.38%.

Institutional Trading of International Business Machines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IBM. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,011,122,000. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in International Business Machines by 13.9% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,045,156 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,809,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,077,506 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of International Business Machines by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,051,475 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,019,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913,708 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 27,928.2% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,903,116 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $561,001,000 after buying an additional 1,896,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of International Business Machines by 39.6% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,052,880 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $861,401,000 after buying an additional 865,253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.96% of the company’s stock.

International Business Machines Company Profile

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a global technology and consulting company headquartered in Armonk, New York. Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) and renamed IBM in 1924, the company has evolved from early electromechanical machines to a diversified technology provider serving enterprises and governments worldwide. IBM is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IBM.

IBM’s principal businesses encompass cloud computing and software, infrastructure and systems, consulting and technology services, and research and development.