Company Performance - IBM's stock closed at $283.59, down 1.34% from the previous session, underperforming the S&P 500's loss of 0.33% [1] - Over the past month, IBM shares gained 2.28%, lagging behind the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 5.24% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.07% [1] Earnings Projections - IBM is set to release its earnings report on July 23, 2025, with projected earnings per share (EPS) of $2.64, indicating an 8.64% increase year-over-year [2] - Revenue is expected to reach $16.59 billion, reflecting a 5.2% increase compared to the same quarter last year [2] Full-Year Estimates - The Zacks Consensus Estimates for IBM's full-year earnings are $10.95 per share and revenue of $66.21 billion, representing year-over-year changes of +6% and +5.5%, respectively [3] - Recent adjustments to analyst estimates for IBM may indicate changing near-term business trends, with positive revisions seen as a favorable sign for the business outlook [3][4] Zacks Rank and Valuation - IBM currently holds a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy), with a historical track record of outperforming, as stocks rated 1 have produced an average annual return of +25% since 1988 [5] - The company is trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 26.25, which is a premium compared to the industry average of 19.54 [6] PEG Ratio - IBM has a PEG ratio of 6.04, higher than the Computer - Integrated Systems industry's average PEG ratio of 4.3 [7] Industry Context - The Computer - Integrated Systems industry, part of the Computer and Technology sector, holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 32, placing it in the top 13% of over 250 industries [8]

Market Overview - U.S. stock markets began July with strong performance, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite reaching all-time highs, while the Dow lagged behind [2] - Year-to-date performance for major indexes shows the Dow up 4.9%, S&P 500 up 6.7%, and Nasdaq Composite up 6.9% [3] Visa Inc. - Visa's market position is supported by volume-driven growth, acquisitions, and technological leadership in digital payments [7] - The company benefits from increased digital transactions and cross-border volumes, with significant profit growth driven by ongoing investments in technology [8] - Visa has an expected revenue growth rate of 10.2% and earnings growth rate of 12.9% for the current year [11] The Walt Disney Co. - Disney reported steady second-quarter fiscal 2025 results with year-over-year increases in revenues and earnings [12] - The company expects double-digit operating income growth in fiscal 2025, with ESPN showing significant viewership growth [13] - Disney has transformed its streaming business into a profitable growth engine, achieving $336 million in DTC operating income in the second quarter [14] - Expected revenue growth rate for Disney is 4.1% and earnings growth rate is 16.3% for the current year [15] Microsoft Corp. - Microsoft is leveraging AI momentum and Copilot adoption, with strong demand for Azure and Office 365 driving revenue growth [16] - The company anticipates a 13.7% increase in net sales for fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024 [17] - Expected revenue growth rate for Microsoft is 12.4% and earnings growth rate is 12% for the current year [18] The Coca-Cola Co. - Coca-Cola achieved strong first-quarter 2025 results, marking its ninth consecutive quarter of exceeding expectations [19] - The company's all-weather strategy, which combines marketing, innovation, and revenue growth management, is expected to drive revenue growth in 2025 [20] - Expected revenue growth rate for Coca-Cola is 2.6% and earnings growth rate is 3.1% for the current year [21] International Business Machines Corp. - IBM is positioned to benefit from demand for hybrid cloud and AI, focusing on its watsonx platform for AI capabilities [22][24] - The company is expected to see growth in its Software and Consulting segments due to a better business mix and productivity gains [23] - Expected revenue growth rate for IBM is 5.5% and earnings growth rate is 6% for the current year [25]

Core Insights - D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) shares have experienced a 0.9% decline over the past 30 days, indicating growing competitive pressures from major tech companies IBM and Alphabet (Google) as they enhance their quantum computing capabilities [1][8] Financial Performance - D-Wave reported a remarkable 509% year-over-year revenue increase in Q1 2025, driven by the sale of its Advantage2 system and real-world applications [2] - Despite this revenue surge, QBTS is trading over 20% below its all-time high reached on May 23, 2025 [2] Competitive Landscape - Investor caution is rising as IBM introduced its "Starling" roadmap, aiming for fault-tolerant quantum systems by 2029, while Google presented its "Willow" chip, which significantly reduces error rates [3][9] - D-Wave's annealing-based architecture may face limitations compared to gate-based systems from IBM and Google, which are targeting broader applications in cryptography, quantum chemistry, and advanced machine learning [3][4] Market Position and Valuation - D-Wave maintains a strong cash position of over $300 million and is seeing early adoption through initiatives like the Leap Launchpad [4] - However, analysts express concerns about D-Wave's scalability in the face of IBM and Google's aggressive market strategies, questioning whether D-Wave can remain relevant or become a niche player [4] - Currently, QBTS is trading at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 144.4X, significantly higher than its one-year median of 77.54X, indicating potential overvaluation [12]

Group 1 - Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. (CRDO) is a notable stock in the Computer and Technology sector, which consists of 607 individual stocks and holds a Zacks Sector Rank of 5 [2] - The Zacks Rank system indicates that CRDO currently has a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), suggesting a favorable outlook for the stock [3] - Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CRDO's full-year earnings has increased by 43.3%, indicating improved analyst sentiment and earnings outlook [4] Group 2 - CRDO has achieved a year-to-date return of approximately 45.2%, significantly outperforming the average gain of 8.1% in the Computer and Technology group [4] - In comparison, IBM, another stock in the sector, has a year-to-date return of 32% and a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) [5] - CRDO belongs to the Electronics - Semiconductors industry, which includes 44 stocks and is currently ranked 82 in the Zacks Industry Rank, with an average gain of 15% this year [6] Group 3 - The Computer - Integrated Systems industry, where IBM is categorized, has 11 stocks and is ranked 32, with a year-to-date increase of 26.1% [7] - Both CRDO and IBM are highlighted as stocks to watch in the Computer and Technology sector due to their strong performance [7]

Core Insights - IBM has launched the IBM Power11 server, which offers up to 55% better core performance and up to 45% more capacity compared to previous models, enhancing resiliency, performance, and scalability for hybrid deployments [1][7] - The server utilizes generative AI for autonomous patching and automated workload movement, reducing operational risks and costs while freeing up IT resources for other productive tasks [2][7] - IBM Power Cyber Vault provides rapid ransomware threat detection in under a minute, with proactive immutable snapshots, and supports mission-critical AI workloads with twice the performance per watt compared to x86 servers [3][7] Competitive Landscape - Amazon's Bedrock platform is positioned as a leader in enterprise AI, offering managed access to high-performing foundation models and addressing challenges in AI adoption [4] - Microsoft is enhancing its AI capabilities with the Agent Store, featuring over 70 agents and a development hub adopted by more than 70,000 enterprises, facilitating the creation and scaling of AI-powered workplace assistants [5] Financial Performance - IBM's stock has increased by 63.3% over the past year, significantly outperforming the industry growth of 4.3% [6] - The company trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 3.98, slightly above the industry average [8] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IBM's earnings for 2025 has remained unchanged over the past 60 days, indicating stability in earnings expectations [9]

ARMONK, N.Y., July 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) will hold its quarterly conference call to discuss its second-quarter 2025 financial results on Wednesday, July 23, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. ET. The live webcast of the earnings call can be accessed at www.ibm.com/investor.Please also visit the investor website for the earnings press release prior to the webcast. A replay, associated charts and prepared remarks will be available after the event.Contact:Timothy Davidson[email protected]914-844-7847SOURCE IB ...

Industry Overview - Quantum computing is projected to become a $200 billion market by 2040, with significant growth expected in the broader quantum technology market, which could reach nearly $100 billion by 2035 and double by 2040 [2] - The combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing is anticipated to drive a new era of innovation, leveraging the immense computing power required by AI [2] Company Analysis - **Nvidia**: A leader in providing parallel processing chips for AI data centers, Nvidia is developing quantum-accelerated computing through its CUDA-Q programming platform, which integrates quantum and classical systems for real-world applications [5][6][8] - **Microsoft**: With its Majorana 1 quantum processing unit and a strong presence in cloud services through Azure, Microsoft is well-positioned in the quantum computing space. The company has a robust financial standing, with a market cap of $3.7 trillion and a history of consistent dividend payments [9][10][11][12] - **IBM**: A key player in quantum computing, IBM has deployed 13 utility-scale quantum computers and is approaching $1 billion in cumulative bookings. Its Qiskit platform supports nearly 5,000 projects, indicating strong developer engagement [13][14][15][16]

Market Capitalization Changes - The market capitalization of major global technology and internet companies has shown varied changes as of July 9, 2025, with notable increases in companies like Tesla, which rose by 1.32% to reach $959.2 billion, and Alibaba, which increased by 1.62% to $257.6 billion [3][4][5]. - Companies such as Netflix and Shopify experienced declines, with Netflix decreasing by 1.11% to $548.8 billion and Shopify dropping by 3.58% to $619.1 billion [3][4]. Notable Performers - AMD saw a significant increase of 2.24%, bringing its market cap to $223.4 billion, while Intel had a remarkable rise of 7.23%, reaching $102.8 billion [5][6]. - Other companies with positive performance include Adobe, which increased by 1.41% to $162.1 billion, and ASML, which rose by 1.15% to $312.2 billion [3][4]. Decliners - Companies like Robinhood and Sea Limited faced declines, with Robinhood decreasing by 2.34% to $824 million and Sea Limited dropping by 1.32% to $894 million [6][7]. - FICO experienced a significant drop of 8.91%, bringing its market cap down to $455 million [7]. Overall Trends - The overall trend indicates a mixed performance across the technology sector, with some companies gaining market value while others are experiencing losses [3][4][5][6].

Core Insights - IBM officially launched the next-generation Power11 chip and accompanying server products on July 8, 2025, marking its first major technological upgrade since the Power10 release in 2020 [1] - The Power11 server, set to be globally available on July 25, 2025, offers a hybrid cloud solution with enhanced availability, flexibility, and scalability through comprehensive innovations in processors, hardware architecture, and virtualization software stack [1] System Reliability - Power11 achieves 99.9999% system availability, supporting zero planned downtime maintenance through self-healing and automatic load transfer technologies [2] - The built-in IBM Power Cyber Vault security solution can detect and respond to ransomware threats within one minute, providing a robust data resilience framework that meets international standards, particularly crucial for the financial services industry [2] Chip Technology Architecture - Power11 utilizes a 7-nanometer process technology, integrating eight high-performance cores per chip, each with 4.5MB of L2 cache, totaling 36MB of cache capacity [3] - The L3 and L4 caches have been expanded to 360MB and 2.88GB, respectively, improving large-scale data processing efficiency by 40% compared to previous generations [3] - Global AI server spending is projected to reach $140 billion by 2025, with 80% concentrated in hardware, positioning Power11 to capitalize on the trend towards liquid-cooled data centers [3] Server Specifications - Power11 is the first Power server to support the Spyre Accelerator, achieving breakthroughs in AI computing power with a 75W PCIe Gen5 interface and 32 dedicated cores [4] - The system can deliver 24 TOPS of computing power per card, with memory bandwidth reaching 1.6TB/s through parallel deployment of eight cards, catering to complex language model inference needs [4] - Despite a slight 0.5% increase in IBM's stock price on the launch day, analysts remain cautious about long-term growth due to a ten-year low in annual dividend growth and a high price-to-earnings ratio near 23 times, alongside a $58.4 billion debt burden [4] Market Response - The launch is described by IBM Power Systems General Manager Tom McPherson as a "game changer for enterprise computing" [5] - Power11 integrates the Red Hat OpenShift AI ecosystem and the watsonx data platform, supporting both on-premises deployment and seamless virtual server options with IBM Cloud [5] - With the dual drivers of surging AI computing demand and green data center construction, Power11's comprehensive advantages in performance, security, and energy efficiency are expected to inject new momentum into IBM's competitive position in the hybrid cloud market [5]

Core Insights - IBM's Power11 chips are 55% faster than the previous Power9 generation, which debuted in 2017, and are designed for various applications beyond supercomputers [3][4] - The Power11 architecture supports up to 30 cores per socket, with a maximum of 240 threads due to simultaneous multithreading, offering competitive performance against AMD and Intel [3][4] - IBM claims that Power11 delivers twice the performance per watt compared to x86 systems, emphasizing energy efficiency and system resilience [5][4] Product Features - Power11 introduces resource groups to enhance utilization and performance without increasing energy consumption, along with a power-saving mode that can improve efficiency by 28% [4] - The architecture allows for 99.9999% uptime, with features like hot-swappable components for maintenance without downtime [5] - Power11 systems will include AI accelerators capable of running large and small language models, indicating a focus on AI integration [5][6] System Configurations - The top-tier IBM E1180 can support up to 64 cores and 512 threads, with a maximum memory capacity of 16TB using DDR5 [7][26] - The E1150 model shares many features with the E1180 but can support up to 120 cores, showcasing flexibility in configurations [8][30] - Smaller configurations like the S1124 and S1122 are designed for reliability in compact environments, with varying core and memory capacities [32][34] Market Positioning - IBM aims to provide a modern platform that enhances performance and functionality for existing customers while attracting new ones [37] - The introduction of PowerVS hybrid cloud services allows enterprises to manage both on-premises and cloud servers seamlessly, addressing deployment challenges in the IBM POWER ecosystem [21] - The company is focusing on expanding its custom accelerators from IBM Z to POWER servers, enhancing its competitive edge in the market [19][16]