IBM Common StockIBMWATCHMay 28, 2025Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jul 07, 2026. Market Open.
Growing from multiple angles, yet valuation still reasonable. Stable and embedded business complemented by new growth drivers. Consulting business helps companies implement AI, and that's where the real spending is. Strong in hybrid cloud, managing data across environments. Quantum computing already being used with potential for energy, healthcare, manufacturing.
Drop in February due to sector rotation and profit taking. Trades ~19x PE, attractive. Sees 30% upside from here to ~$317. Yield is 2.85%.
Hold on to it. At 4-5% growth, in the ballpark of the top players. He doesn't know its exposure to robotics. Street's pretty positive on it, about 20% upside. At 20x PE, not an aggressive valuation. Margins expected to stay healthy -- 60% gross margins, net income margins of close to 20%.
(Analysts’ price target is $314.00)Has tripled since late 2022, and up 40% the past 12 months. They have terrific AI, cloud and consulting businesses. Also have quantum computing. Sales are up under a fine CEO. The rallied hard last October, but has pulled back. Its chart has double-bottomed and is rebounding like crazy. It's broken out of its 50-day moving average this week. Resistance is at $315, then the next at $335-345. There's more upside with the next leg higher coming. Momentum (MACD indicator) just made a bullish crossover, a positive signal. The On Balance Volume too. The RSI looks good, and can go higher. He liked their last quarter.
It has had quite a run with all the AI buzz. With it you have the same trade as you have with NVIDIA. It is a good business and will capture a solid portion of the software spend on AI. Ultimately though, how far away from commercialization is AI. The easy money has been made and IBM is over-valued at these levels.
This is the next phase. We've been in this AI growth patch for a while now, which won't end, but quantum is the next level. It answers a lot of the problems that we deal with in the world such as medical issues and cybersecurity.
Problem is, not a lot of developed companies in the space. The industry is quite immature, but sometimes (if you have a longer time horizon) that's where you find opportunities for decent, long-term growth. Unlike AI, quantum needs a lot of space (perhaps it could solve office realty issues). IBM is starting to look more prominent in that space.