IBM shares sink 13%, record steepest drop in 25 years after Anthropic says AI can modernise COBOL

Core Viewpoint - IBM shares experienced a significant decline of 13.2%, closing at $223.35, marking the largest single-day drop since October 18, 2000, primarily due to concerns over AI-led disruption in the IT sector and the potential modernization of COBOL systems using Anthropic's Claude Code tool [1][6]. Company Summary - IBM's stock fell sharply after Anthropic announced that its Claude Code tool could modernize COBOL, a programming language critical to IBM's mainframe systems, which handle approximately 95% of ATM transactions in the US [2][6]. - The decline in IBM's shares reflects broader market fears regarding the impact of AI on traditional IT roles and systems, leading to a selloff in IT stocks globally [6]. Industry Summary - The IT sector has seen a notable downturn, with the Nifty IT index in India dropping over 3% in a single day and more than 20% over the past month, driven by fears of AI disruption [6]. - Other IT companies, including Coforge and Persistent Systems, also faced declines of more than 5%, while major players like Infosys and TCS saw drops of up to 4% following Anthropic's comments on COBOL modernization [6]. - Cybersecurity firms, such as CrowdStrike and Datadog, experienced stock declines as investors assessed the implications of Anthropic's new security tool on the industry [6].