IBM
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International Business Machines Corporation, doing business as IBM (nicknamed Big Blue), is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is a publicly traded company and one of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, revision of 26 Oct 2026.
What stands out
- For every $1 of reported profit over 5 years, about $1.81 turned up as spare cash.Free cash flow (operating cash flow − capex), and FCF ÷ net income: $12.1B
Worth digging into
- Sales are lower than five years ago, shrinking about 1.7% a year.Revenue growth over 5–10 years: −1.7% a year
- At last year's pace, IBM's spare cash would pay off its net debt in about 3.9 years.Net debt ÷ EBITDA or ÷ FCF, plus interest cover: 3.9x FCF
- Revenue lower than five years agoRevenue −1.7% a year over 5 years
From filed figures and the weekly screener snapshot, 30 Oct 2026. Observations to check in the tabs below, not advice.
What has the price done?
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Press and drag across the chart to see the change between two points. Source: Yahoo Finance, delayed. Bars are daily and prices are adjusted for splits, not dividends. Past returns don't predict future returns.
Dividends
Full chart
TradingView's advanced chart, with indicators and drawing tools. It loads when you scroll to it.
How does it make money?
What it does is in the oven
We haven't typed up IBM's business and region split yet. Every figure comes from the company's own results, so this takes a little time.
See companies we've covered ›History and context
International Business Machines Corporation, doing business as IBM (nicknamed Big Blue), is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is a publicly traded company and one of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. IBM is the largest industrial research organization in the world, with 19 research facilities across a dozen countries; for 29 consecutive years, from 1993 to 2021, it held the record for most annual U.S. patents generated by a business.
From Wikipedia's article IBM, the lead section as of the revision of 26 Oct 2026, retrieved 1 Nov 2026. Text under CC BY-SA 4.0, pronunciation guides removed. Wikipedia can be edited by anyone; the company's own filings are the primary source.
What it actually sells Soon
A product-by-product guide to IBM: what each one is, who buys it, and how much it brings in, in plain English and in the company's own terms. We're starting with the companies that are hardest to picture, like Broadcom.
Moat not rated yet
We haven't rated IBM's moat. A rating needs at least five years of returns against the cost of capital, plus evidence for each of the five lenses.
How we rate moats ›Is it a good business at a fair price?
What each method implies
Ranges, not targetsThe five questions, and the price
Six checks from the annual reports. A flag marks a reason to dig deeper, not a verdict.
- 1. Is it growing?Reason to dig deeper
−1.7% a year
Revenue growth over 5–10 years
Revenue $73.6B in FY2020 to $67.5B in FY2025; −1.9% a year over 10 years. It fell in 1 of the last 5 years.
Sales are lower than five years ago, shrinking about 1.7% a year.
What to look for Steady growth, not one lucky year.
Source: FY2020 10-K, filed 23 Feb 2021; FY2025 10-K, filed 24 Feb 2026.
- 2. Is it profitable?
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Operating margin (operating income ÷ revenue)
Operating income isn't tagged in the 10-K.
We need operating income and revenue to answer this.
What to look for Stable or rising. It's cleaner than net income, which one-off items and tax can distort.
- 3. Is the profit real cash?Within the guide
$12.1B
Free cash flow (operating cash flow − capex), and FCF ÷ net income
FY2025 free cash flow: operating cash flow $13.2B less capex $1.1B. Over 5 years FCF was 181% of net income.
For every $1 of reported profit over 5 years, about $1.81 turned up as spare cash.
What to look for FCF positive and growing, and close to net income over time.
Source: FY2025 10-K, filed 24 Feb 2026.
- 4. Is it a good business?
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Return on invested capital (ROIC); ROE for banks
Equity, debt or cash isn't tagged for enough years to work out ROIC.
We need the balance sheet to answer this.
What to look for Clearly above the cost of capital (roughly 8–10%). Sustained 15%+ usually means a moat.
- 5. Can it survive a bad year?Reason to dig deeper
3.9x FCF
Net debt ÷ EBITDA or ÷ FCF, plus interest cover
FY2025 year end: borrowings $61.3B, cash and short-term investments $13.6B, net debt $47.7B. Interest cover: —.
At last year's pace, IBM's spare cash would pay off its net debt in about 3.9 years.
What to look for Debt payable from about 3 years of FCF or less, interest covered many times.
Source: FY2025 10-K, filed 24 Feb 2026.
- 6. Is the price right?
5.0% FCF yield
FCF yield or EV/EBIT, and price against a cash-flow value
Market cap $242.9B. FCF yield 5.0% on FY2025 free cash flow.
At this price, each $100 of shares comes with about $4.98 of last year's spare cash.
What to look for Pay less than a cash-flow value estimate, with a margin of safety.
Source: Price $257.81, Yahoo Finance weekly snapshot, 30 Oct 2026; 942M shares, 10-Q 30 Jun 2026; FY2025 10-K, filed 24 Feb 2026.
US figures: each company's Form 10-K as tagged on SEC EDGAR, collected 19 Oct 2026. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less purchases of property and equipment. Borrowings exclude leases. For education only. Not financial advice.
Ten years of financials
FY2016 to FY2025, in US dollars.
Source: IBM, Form 10-K for each year as first filed, via SEC EDGAR XBRL. Latest: FY2025 10-K, filed 24 Feb 2026. Later restatements aren't applied.
How peers compare
Enterprise softwareSoftware names are compared on recurring-revenue growth and the margin that subscription model leaves behind.
| Company | Revenue growth, 5y | Operating margin | P/E | EV/EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBM | −1.7% a year | — | 23.1x | — |
| ORCL | +10.7% a year | 30.6% | 22.4x | — |
| CRM | +14.3% a year | 20.1% | 29.4x | 23.5x |
| ADBE | +13.1% a year | 36.6% | 15.0x | 11.2x |
| MSFT | +14.6% a year | 46.8% | 29.1x | — |
- Peers' middle-half P/E
- 20.6x–29.2x (median 25.7x, 4 peers)
At the peers' middle-half P/E, IBM's earnings per share from the FY2025 10-K would put the share between $230 and $326. Those are the peer bars in the valuation chart above — one way to read the price, not a target.
Prices: weekly screener snapshot, 30 Oct 2026. Profits: each company's latest annual filing via SEC EDGAR, as filed. Peers are hand-picked for this industry. A multiple compares one year's profit with today's price; it says nothing about what either does next.
Not in Stock valuation yet
Stock valuation doesn't have IBM's figures yet. You can still type them in: pick "Value your own company" and fill in the inputs from the latest results.
Value your own company ›Who owns it, and what's the mood?
Tracked investors and insiders
Trades in IBM by the people we follow: Warren Buffett and Michael Burry (13F), Grab's officers (Form 4) and Nancy Pelosi (House reports). They show what happened, often weeks later, not what to copy.
None of the people we follow has reported a trade in IBM in the filings we track.
Sources: SEC EDGAR 13F-HR and Form 4 filings, and the US House Clerk's Periodic Transaction Reports, checked 30 Oct 2026. 13F values are the quarter-end value, not the price paid. All tracked trades ›
- Largest shareholdersSoonThe biggest holders from 13F filings and the annual proxy statement.—
- Chief executive and board holdingsSoonShares held by the CEO and directors, from the proxy statement and Form 4s.—
- Short interestSoonHow many shares are sold short, from exchange short-interest reports.—
Crowd favourite or value trap?
Neither is a label we can put on a stock. These are signs worth looking into, each from a figure on this page.
Signs of a crowd-driven price
Meme stocks move on attention more than on results: big swings, a price far from cash-flow value, thin profits.
0 of 2 signs (2 without data)
- NoSwings at least twice as much as the marketBeta 0.78, 5 years of monthly returns
- NoUp more than 100%, or down more than 50%, in a year1-year price change −13.95%
- —Price more than 50% above the valuation sheet's middle valueNot in Stock valuation yet
- —Thin profits: operating margin under 5%, or a lossNo operating margin yet
Signs of a value trap
A value trap looks cheap because the business is shrinking or earning less than its capital costs.
1 of 3 signs (1 without data)
- NoLooks cheap: P/E under 12 or FCF yield over 8%P/E 23.1x, FCF yield 5.0%
- YesRevenue lower than five years agoRevenue −1.7% a year over 5 years
- —Returns below the cost of capitalNot rated yet
- NoMore than 30% below its 52-week high−22.4% from the 52-week high
Prices, beta and 1-year change: Yahoo Finance weekly snapshot, 30 Oct 2026. Business figures: the five questions under Valuation and financials. A sign is a reason to dig deeper, not a verdict. For education only. Not financial advice.
Read it through a lens
Price data: Yahoo Finance, delayed. Company figures: each company's own filings, dated where they appear. A ticker on this site is not a recommendation. For education only. Not financial advice.