International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)

IBM's stock has shown significant growth, with a 65.45% increase between July 1, 2024, and June 27, 2025. The stock has surged nearly 12% in the past month and 70.85% year-over-year. As of June 27, 2025, the stock closed at $289.70. Recent positive events include credit agreement extensions securing $10 billion in liquidity, strong financial results driven by software growth and free cash flow, and expanding AI and hybrid cloud initiatives. Concerns remain about sustained earnings momentum and competition with AI-first rivals, and the consulting segment has shown weak performance.

Demand for IBM's products and services is influenced by seasonality and business cycles. Weather impacts demand, with energy-efficient servers seeing higher demand during high temperatures and servers with moisture protection sought during monsoon seasons. Quarter-end sales often see increased demand as businesses utilize remaining budgets. IBM's predictive analytics tools are used to forecast sales demand by analyzing customer orders and seasonality.

IBM is a multinational technology and consulting company operating in the Information Technology sector, specifically within the Information Technology Services industry. It provides global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting solutions and services. Its offerings include system hardware and software development, infrastructure, hosting, and consulting services. Major products and services include automation and robotics, AI (including Watson and watsonx), cloud computing, consulting, blockchain, computer hardware, software, storage and networking, and data management and business analytics. IBM serves diverse industries, including automotive, banking, healthcare, and retail.

IBM operates in over 170 countries and territories, maintaining a network of 12 research labs across six continents. Its global cloud footprint includes data centers in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, with plans for further expansion in the Middle East and Africa. IBM has more employees in India than in the United States.

IBM has transformed its brand perception from a legacy hardware company to an innovative leader in AI, quantum computing, and cloud solutions. This shift was influenced by its content marketing strategy, focusing on thought leadership and educational content. In 2022, IBM was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame. Threats to brand reputation in the B2B tech sector include security breaches, inclusive hiring issues, and privacy policies. IT system failure and data breaches are significant threats to reputation and brand value.

Vanguard Group Inc. is the largest institutional shareholder, holding 9.59% of total shares outstanding. Other major institutional owners include BlackRock, Inc., State Street Corp, Geode Capital Management, Llc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley, Bank Of America Corp /de/, and Capital World Investors. The top individual shareholders of IBM are all employees of the company: Arvind Krishna (Chairman & CEO), Michelle H. Browdy, and James J. Kavanaugh. As of December 31, 2023, Arvind Krishna owned 307,431 shares, representing 0.033% of all outstanding company shares.