International Business Machines Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated solutions and services worldwide. The company operates through Software, Consulting, Infrastructure, and Financing segments. The Software segment offers a hybrid cloud and AI platforms that allows clients to realize their digital and AI transformations across the applications, data, and environments in which they operate. The Consulting segment focuses on skills integration for strategy, experience, technology, and operations by domain and industry. The Infrastructure segment provides on-premises and cloud based server, and storage solutions, as well as life-cycle services for hybrid cloud infrastructure deployment. The Financing segment offers client and commercial financing, facilitates IBM clients' acquisition of hardware, software, and services. The company has a strategic partnership to various companies including hyperscalers, service providers, global system integrators, and software and hardware vendors that includes Adobe, Amazon Web services, Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, Samsung Electronics and SAP, and others. The company was formerly known as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. International Business Machines Corporation was incorporated in 1911 and is headquartered in Armonk, New York.

International Business Machines Corporation

Looking today at week-over-week shares outstanding changes among the universe of ETFs covered at ETF Channel, one standout is the The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (Symbol: XLK) where we have detected an approximate $485.8 million dollar inflow -- that's a 0.5% increase week over week in outstanding units (from 319,805,897 to 321,460,000). Among the largest underlying components of XLK, in trading today International Business Machines Corp (Symbol: IBM) is off about 0.4%, Micron Technology Inc. (Symbol: MU) is off about 1.3%, and ServiceNow Inc (Symbol: NOW) is up by about 1.5%. For a complete list of holdings, visit the XLK Holdings page » The chart below shows the one year price performance of XLK, versus its 200 day moving average:
Looking at the chart above, XLK's low point in its 52 week range is $172.45 per share, with $298.17 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $297.75. Comparing the most recent share price to the 200 day moving average can also be a useful technical analysis technique -- learn more about the 200 day moving average ».
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) trade just like stocks, but instead of ''shares'' investors are actually buying and selling ''units''. These ''units'' can be traded back and forth just like stocks, but can also be created or destroyed to accommodate investor demand. Each week we monitor the week-over-week change in shares outstanding data, to keep a lookout for those ETFs experiencing notable inflows (many new units created) or outflows (many old units destroyed). Creation of new units will mean the underlying holdings of the ETF need to be purchased, while destruction of units involves selling underlying holdings, so large flows can also impact the individual components held within ETFs.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Noteworthy ETF Inflows: XLK, IBM, MU, NOW

Investors in International Business Machines Corp (Symbol: IBM) saw new options become available today, for the December 2026 expiration. One of the key data points that goes into the price an option buyer is willing to pay, is the time value, so with 417 days until expiration the newly available contracts represent a possible opportunity for sellers of puts or calls to achieve a higher premium than would be available for the contracts with a closer expiration. At Stock Options Channel, our YieldBoost formula has looked up and down the IBM options chain for the new December 2026 contracts and identified one put and one call contract of particular interest.
The put contract at the $300.00 strike price has a current bid of $31.50. If an investor was to sell-to-open that put contract, they are committing to purchase the stock at $300.00, but will also collect the premium, putting the cost basis of the shares at $268.50 (before broker commissions). To an investor already interested in purchasing shares of IBM, that could represent an attractive alternative to paying $306.56/share today.
Because the $300.00 strike represents an approximate 2% discount to the current trading price of the stock (in other words it is out-of-the-money by that percentage), there is also the possibility that the put contract would expire worthless. The current analytical data (including greeks and implied greeks) suggest the current odds of that happening are 61%. Stock Options Channel will track those odds over time to see how they change, publishing a chart of those numbers on our website under the contract detail page for this contract. Should the contract expire worthless, the premium would represent a 10.50% return on the cash commitment, or 9.19% annualized — at Stock Options Channel we call this the YieldBoost.
Below is a chart showing the trailing twelve month trading history for International Business Machines Corp, and highlighting in green where the $300.00 strike is located relative to that history:
Turning to the calls side of the option chain, the call contract at the $320.00 strike price has a current bid of $34.50. If an investor was to purchase shares of IBM stock at the current price level of $306.56/share, and then sell-to-open that call contract as a "covered call," they are committing to sell the stock at $320.00. Considering the call seller will also collect the premium, that would drive a total return (excluding dividends, if any) of 15.64% if the stock gets called away at the December 2026 expiration (before broker commissions). Of course, a lot of upside could potentially be left on the table if IBM shares really soar, which is why looking at the trailing twelve month trading history for International Business Machines Corp, as well as studying the business fundamentals becomes important. Below is a chart showing IBM's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $320.00 strike highlighted in red:
Considering the fact that the $320.00 strike represents an approximate 4% premium to the current trading price of the stock (in other words it is out-of-the-money by that percentage), there is also the possibility that the covered call contract would expire worthless, in which case the investor would keep both their shares of stock and the premium collected. The current analytical data (including greeks and implied greeks) suggest the current odds of that happening are 46%. On our website under the contract detail page for this contract, Stock Options Channel will track those odds over time to see how they change and publish a chart of those numbers (the trading history of the option contract will also be charted). Should the covered call contract expire worthless, the premium would represent a 11.25% boost of extra return to the investor, or 9.85% annualized, which we refer to as the YieldBoost.
The implied volatility in the put contract example is 32%, while the implied volatility in the call contract example is 31%.
Meanwhile, we calculate the actual trailing twelve month volatility (considering the last 249 trading day closing values as well as today's price of $306.56) to be 30%. For more put and call options contract ideas worth looking at, visit StockOptionsChannel.com.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Interesting IBM Put And Call Options For December 2026

How Investing Has Changed in the Last 5 Years

Key Points
The launch of the AI-focused z17 mainframe earlier this year has been a major success.
Infrastructure is expected to drive 1.5 percentage points of revenue growth in 2025 for IBM.
IBM boosted its outlook thanks in part to strong mainframe sales.
International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) boosted its full-year outlook when it reported its third-quarter results on Wednesday. With the company handily beating analyst expectations for both revenue and earnings, it now sees constant-currency revenue growth of more than 5% and free cash flow of roughly $14 billion. Revenue grew by more than 7% in the third quarter, adjusted for currency.
While there were multiple drivers behind the guidance bump, including a booming AI business and strong software growth, the company's iconic mainframe systems played a significant role.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »
The best mainframe launch in history
Every few years, IBM rolls out a new version of its mainframe systems. IBM's mainframes are still widely used in some industries, including financial services, and they offer a level of reliability that can't be matched by commodity hardware. The latest mainframe, the z17, started shipping in June.
The z17 puts a heavy emphasis on AI. A built-in AI accelerator can handle 450 billion inferencing operations per day with 1-millisecond response times, making it ideal for use cases like real-time fraud detection. With the launch of the IBM Spyre AI accelerator later this year, mainframe users will be able to add even more AI computing capacity to their z17 systems and unlock additional generative AI use cases.
Each time IBM launches a new mainframe system, an upgrade cycle is triggered that leads to multiple quarters of significant mainframe revenue growth. This time is no different. Overall infrastructure revenue rose by 15% year over year in the third quarter to $3.6 billion, adjusted for currency, driven by a 59% jump in mainframe revenue.
This was the best third quarter in terms of revenue for the mainframe business in close to two decades, and it was the best two-quarter mainframe launch in the company's history. Typically, mainframe revenue will surge for multiple quarters following a launch, then suffer sharp year-over-year declines as the launch is lapped and customers await the next iteration.
The strength of the mainframe business boosted the infrastructure segment's profit margin by 4.2 percentage points year over year to 18.1%. Profitability improved in the software and consulting segments as well, contributing to the company's boosted free cash flow outlook.
IBM now expects the infrastructure segment, spearheaded by the mainframe business, to contribute more than 1.5 percentage points of revenue growth this year. That means that a little less than one-third of IBM's overall revenue growth will come from infrastructure, even though infrastructure is the smallest of the three core segments. In the third quarter, infrastructure accounted for about 22% of total revenue.
Once the current mainframe product cycle fades, IBM's revenue growth can be carried by a booming AI business. IBM has now generated $9.5 billion in AI bookings, mostly in its consulting segment, and those bookings will meaningfully contribute to revenue going forward. For 2025, though, the decades-old mainframe business is a big part of the growth story.
Should you invest $1,000 in International Business Machines right now?
Before you buy stock in International Business Machines, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and International Business Machines wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $590,357!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,141,748!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,033% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 193% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 20, 2025
Timothy Green has positions in International Business Machines. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends International Business Machines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

IBM's Growth Accelerates. You Can Thank the Mainframe.

Key Points
IBM trades at a fraction of Microsoft's and Nvidia's valuations despite leading positions in quantum computing and AI.
American Express continues its streak of beating analyst expectations while embracing blockchain and AI technologies.
Walmart is successfully borrowing strategies from Amazon and Costco while leveraging its massive physical footprint.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) market index is an elite club. Its 30 components are some of the best businesses in America, hand-picked and maintained by the five financial experts on S&P Global's Averages Committee.
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The Dow members jumped through many hoops to reach that lofty position, and most of them should be solid investments in any economy. The well-known "Dogs of the Dow" investing strategy even looks for Dow stocks trading at a discount, with the assumption that these giants will recover from short-term problems. It's not an infallible strategy, but still a famous and theoretically reasonable one.
But there are different levels of excellence even in this top-shelf group. Three of the current Dow stocks strike me as no-brainer buys right now.
1. IBM
Quantum computing and artificial intelligence (AI) are two of the hottest business trends on the planet right now. IBM (NYSE: IBM) is a leading player in both fields, but Big Blue's stock is lagging behind other quantum and AI winners.
I mean, the market is starting to catch on. IBM's stock gained 29% year-to-date as of this writing on Oct. 23. But it still looks undervalued trading at 4.0 times sales and 23.4 times forward earnings estimates.
Last week's earnings report underscored IBM's AI and quantum computing muscle. AI-based contracts rose to $9.5 billion, up from $7.5 billion three months earlier. On theearnings call IBM management celebrated technical advances in the quantum arena, targeting 2028 for the first error-corrected quantum computer.
And you can invest in IBM's thrilling technology at a deep discount. Fellow Dow members Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) also offer exposure to the AI and quantum computing trends, but their stocks are quite expensive. Microsoft trades at 11.3 times sales, while Nvidia's shares change hands at 44.3 times sales. IBM's price-to-sales ratio of 4.0 is a downright steal.
2. American Express
I don't get excited about bank stocks and financial services too often, but American Express (NYSE: AXP) makes the grade nowadays.
This longtime Warren Buffett favorite keeps beating analyst expectations, often with double-digit percentage growth on the top line and even stronger earnings gains. But it's more than just another boring bank-like success story.
American Express has always focused on customer service and unique card features. The legacy continues in 2025 as the company highlighted AI adoption among small businesses, added a substantial Squarespace credit to its business-class Gold card, and shipped a brand-new travel app built on the Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) blockchain.
There's nothing boring or old-school about American Express, despite its centennial history and Warren Buffett's deep-value stamp of approval. The stock is neither cheap nor too expensive, but it's a no-brainer investment with share prices in the Goldilocks zone. If American Express keeps up its winning ways and next-gen technology development, the premium prices should come later.
3. Walmart
And if you thought American Express was an unexpected guest on this list, the third name might downright shock you.
Good old Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is evolving before my eyes. The world's largest big-box retailer is borrowing entire chapters from the playbooks of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST), building its own take on e-commerce with a massive physical footprint.
In August's second-quarter report, Walmart's online orders grew 25% year over year. The shipping service is catching up to Amazon Prime's benefits in many ways, providing same-day delivery for paying members of the Walmart+ club. Like Costco's memberships and Amazon Prime's subscriptions, Walmart's customer loyalty program represents a low-cost stream of pure bonus revenue.
Here's one last surprise: Walmart stock comes with a premium price tag today.
The stock trades at 36 times forward earnings estimates, which is a lofty valuation for a business that redefined low-cost retail operations. Investors have noticed that Walmart is up to a whole bunch of new tricks, setting the stock up for great long-term returns. So the rich stock price makes sense, and it's a no-brainer buy right now.
Should you invest $1,000 in International Business Machines right now?
Before you buy stock in International Business Machines, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and International Business Machines wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $590,357!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,141,748!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,033% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 193% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 20, 2025
American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Anders Bylund has positions in Amazon, Ethereum, International Business Machines, Nvidia, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Costco Wholesale, Ethereum, International Business Machines, Microsoft, Nvidia, S&P Global, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

3 No-Brainer Dow Jones Stocks to Buy Right Now

Key Points
IonQ leads the quantum computing sector with $52.4 million in trailing revenue, far ahead of rivals Rigetti Computing and D-Wave Quantum.
However, the stock trades at an astronomical 415 times trailing sales despite posting net losses of $464.3 million over the last four quarters.
Investors should wait for a much lower entry point before considering IonQ stock.
Quantum computing specialist IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) soared to an all-time high in mid-October, but has backed down from that peak recently. The stock closed at $59.37 per share on Oct. 23, 28% below the $82.09 mark on Oct. 13.
Is this dip an invitation to buy IonQ stock, or the start of a deeper downturn -- or something in between? Let's take a look.
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Why quantum computing could change everything
Quantum computing should eventually turn the number-crunching world upside-down. Monitoring the physics of specially designed materials is a radically different computing method from the classical routing of digital signals through various types of logic gates.
In the long run, quantum systems should get very good at finding patterns in large data sets. In practice, people may use this new computing paradigm to decode genetic data, decrypt encrypted information, analyze financial markets, and more. I've got my fingers crossed for a quantum supercomputer finally figuring out the objectively correct way to raise your kids, but let's not hold our breath on that one.
Hold that thought, though (while breathing comfortably).
So far, IonQ is one of the largest and most successful developers of quantum computing systems. With $52.4 million of trailing revenue and a market cap of $21.8 billion, it stands head and shoulders over smaller quantum hopefuls such as Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ: RGTI) and D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS).
IonQ's focus on trapped ion systems is more natural than the superconducting gates used by Rigetti and D-Wave's quantum annealing. Its hardware is already producing high-quality data that can do useful things with less error correction. It's not a perfect solution, though; IonQ's data processing is also slower than the superconducting circuits and requires more precise engineering.
If IonQ's solutions can produce business-grade quantum computing systems before the others, you're looking at the early days of another durable tech titan.
IonQ's success is far from guaranteed
Unfortunately, IonQ has many hurdles to jump before reaching that lofty goal.
What if superconducting circuits are the right long-term approach, making IonQ's research obsolete in five or 10 years? In this case, I'd rather own Rigetti and D-Wave stock.
D-Wave and Rigetti may not look too dangerous today, but IonQ is also competing with well-heeled giants like Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and IBM (NYSE: IBM). IBM Quantum Computing and Google Quantum AI already have boatloads of technology patents, and their massive research budgets make IonQ and Rigetti look like rounding errors.
And there are no guarantees that IonQ's quantum computing research efforts will succeed. The trapped ion approach makes sense today, but the company's scientists could run into unexpected roadblocks and failed experiments. Any experienced biotech or semiconductor investor can tell you scary tales of promising research projects leading to a dead end.
Unfortunately, it will probably take many years to create truly useful quantum computers. If nothing else, IonQ may very well run out of cash long before the final breakthrough. From dilutive stock sales to expensive loans to all-out bankruptcy, none of the options is particularly shareholder-friendly.
The stock price lives in a different reality
Meanwhile, IonQ's stock is trading at nosebleed valuations. It's as if the company's long-term success were already guaranteed, with no regard at all for the many risks that remain.
So the greatest risk of all for IonQ investors may be the stock's unsustainable valuation. I already gave you the figures to work out its price-to-sales ratio -- a terrifying 415.5 times trailing revenue.
And I can't even talk about profit-based metrics, because IonQ isn't making money. Like, at all. With $52.4 million of trailing sales, the company reported a net loss of $464.3 million over the last four quarters. And it's not just a tax-savvy accounting move, either. IonQ's free cash flow was a negative $155.1 million in the same period.
The company is running its pricey research projects and burgeoning system manufacturing operations on a rapidly dwindling reserve of investor capital.
Bottom line: Wait for a better entry point
IonQ is at the forefront of a thrilling technological revolution, sure to create a new set of business giants and make millionaires out of early investors. That is, early investors in the eventual winners, which may or may not include IonQ.
I would consider buying a few IonQ shares if the stock weren't so incredibly expensive, but I'm not interested at all in the current setup -- even 26% below the even loftier mid-October peak. Give me a call if and when the market comes to its senses, accounting for IonQ's long-term risks in a much lower share price.
Until then, I can only hope the stock chart continues to trend lower for a while. I wouldn't dare short this volatile stock, of course -- it's all about finding a more reasonable entry point.
Should you invest $1,000 in IonQ right now?
Before you buy stock in IonQ, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and IonQ wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $590,357!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,141,748!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,033% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 193% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 20, 2025
Anders Bylund has positions in Alphabet and International Business Machines. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and International Business Machines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Down 26%, Should You Buy the Dip on IonQ?

What happened
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) jumped on Wednesday after the chipmaker's financial results helped assuage investors' fears of a worsening tech downturn. As of 3:15 p.m. ET, AMD's stock price was up more than 12%.
So what
AMD's revenue rose 16% year over year to $5.6 billion in the fourth quarter. Strength in the semiconductor-leader's data center and embedded divisions more than offset weakness in its client and gaming segments.
AMD's data center revenue soared 42% to $1.7 billion, driven by the continued growth of the cloud computing market and strong sales of its highly regarded EPYC server processors. AMD's new chips are helping it take market share from rival Intel, which has struggled with costly production delays.
Meanwhile, sales in AMD's embedded segment -- which supplies computing systems to industrial, healthcare, and other tech-adjacent markets -- grew nearly 20-fold to $1.4 billion. AMD's acquisition of Xilinx in February has made it a leader in this booming area.
These gains offset a 7% decline in AMD's gaming revenue, to $1.6 billion, and steep losses in its client business. The chip-giant's client-segment revenue fell 51% to $903 million, due to a slowdown in the personal computer (PC) market.
"2022 was a strong year for AMD as we delivered best-in-class growth and record revenue despite the weak PC environment in the second half of the year," said CEO Lisa Su. "We accelerated our data center momentum and closed our strategic acquisition of Xilinx, significantly diversifying our business and strengthening our financial model."
All told, AMD's adjusted earnings per share increased by 25% to $3.50 in 2022.
Now what
During an interview with CNBC, Su said the worst could soon be over for the company's PC-related business. "First quarter should be the bottom for us in PCs and then grow from there into the second quarter and then into the second half," Su said.
Better still, Su expects AMD to continue to outpace its competitors in its key markets. "Although the demand environment is mixed, we are confident in our ability to gain market share in 2023 and deliver long-term growth based on our differentiated product portfolio," Su said.
10 stocks we like better than Advanced Micro Devices
When our award-winning analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*
They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Advanced Micro Devices wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
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Joe Tenebruso has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices and Intel. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2023 $57.50 calls on Intel, long January 2025 $45 calls on Intel, and short January 2025 $45 puts on Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Why AMD Stock Soared Today

The best performing sector as of midday Friday is the Technology & Communications sector, higher by 1.0%. Within that group, Coinbase Global Inc (Symbol: COIN) and International Business Machines Corp (Symbol: IBM) are two large stocks leading the way, showing a gain of 8.7% and 7.5%, respectively. Among technology ETFs, one ETF following the sector is the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (Symbol: XLK), which is up 1.7% on the day, and up 26.90% year-to-date. Coinbase Global Inc, meanwhile, is up 41.29% year-to-date, and International Business Machines Corp is up 41.65% year-to-date. IBM makes up approximately 2.4% of the underlying holdings of XLK.
The next best performing sector is the Utilities sector, up 0.7%. Among large Utilities stocks, Constellation Energy Corp (Symbol: CEG) and Vistra Corp (Symbol: VST) are the most notable, showing a gain of 5.8% and 4.2%, respectively. One ETF closely tracking Utilities stocks is the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU), which is up 1.1% in midday trading, and up 22.83% on a year-to-date basis. Constellation Energy Corp, meanwhile, is up 73.49% year-to-date, and Vistra Corp is up 45.10% year-to-date. Combined, CEG and VST make up approximately 13.1% of the underlying holdings of XLU.
Comparing these stocks and ETFs on a trailing twelve month basis, below is a relative stock price performance chart, with each of the symbols shown in a different color as labeled in the legend at the bottom:
Here's a snapshot of how the S&P 500 components within the various sectors are faring in afternoon trading on Friday. As you can see, seven sectors are up on the day, while one sector is down.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Friday Sector Leaders: Technology & Communications, Utilities

In early trading on Friday, shares of NVIDIA topped the list of the day's best performing Dow Jones Industrial Average components, trading up 2.0%. Year to date, NVIDIA registers a 38.4% gain.
And the worst performing Dow component thus far on the day is Honeywell International, trading down 0.8%. Honeywell International Inc is lower by about 3.1% looking at the year to date performance.
Two other components making moves today are Johnson & Johnson, trading down 0.5%, and International Business Machines, trading up 2.0% on the day.
VIDEO: Dow Movers: HON, NVDA
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Dow Movers: HON, NVDA

Key Points
IBM's consulting business continues to face weak demand for discretionary projects.
New AI bookings are growing rapidly, which will help overcome this headwind as revenue is generated.
Consulting revenue growth and profit margin expansion can contribute to IBM's accelerating growth.
International Business Machines' (NYSE: IBM) largest segment is software, but the consulting business is a hidden gem that enables the company to build integrated solutions for its clients. Unfortunately, clients have been slow to commit to discretionary technology projects in an uncertain economic environment, creating a consulting headwind. While software revenue soared 9% in IBM's third quarter thanks to strong demand for hybrid cloud and automation, the consulting segment reported middling 2% growth.
Consulting growth looks likely to accelerate in the near future as IBM leans into artificial intelligence. While consulting revenue isn't as lucrative as software revenue, consulting contracts help drive incremental software and infrastructure sales, and can accelerate IBM's overall growth.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks »
Strong AI bookings in the consulting business
As of the end of the third quarter, IBM has booked $9.5 billion worth of generative AI business. Consulting accounts for a bit over 80% of that total. In the third quarter alone, IBM's consulting business booked $1.5 billion worth of new AI business.
Large enterprises looking to deploy AI workloads and agents need more than just software. AI implementation services are a critical component, and that's an area where IBM shines. Earlier this year, Gartner put IBM in the "emerging leaders" category for generative AI consulting and implementation services.
That $1.5 billion of new consulting business related to AI will take time to convert to revenue, but as that process unfolds, the headwinds facing the consulting business will start to be overcome by AI growth. "So as those consulting projects start to get executed and as that backlog builds up, certainly the contribution to consulting is going to be very real," said IBM CEO Arvind Krishna during the third-quarter earnings call. " ... it is overcoming the headwinds from staff augmentation projects going away and people getting rid of discretionary spending and consulting."
Already, AI is improving results in the consulting segment. IBM noted that all lines of business within its consulting segment returned to sequential growth in the third quarter, and that segment profit margin reached its highest level in three years. AI projects have the potential to be more lucrative than the types of projects that are fading away, which can help IBM's overall profit margin expand.
An improving story in the consulting business, plus a strong mainframe product cycle and strength in the software business, led IBM to raise its full-year outlook. The company now expects constant-currency revenue growth of more than 5% and free cash flow of around $14 billion. While an uncertain economy will continue to pressure aspects of the consulting business, AI-related projects are turning into quite a boon for this critical IBM segment.
Should you invest $1,000 in International Business Machines right now?
Before you buy stock in International Business Machines, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and International Business Machines wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $602,049!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,105,092!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,028% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 190% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 20, 2025
Timothy Green has positions in International Business Machines. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends International Business Machines. The Motley Fool recommends Gartner. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

International Business Machines Corporation

Price history and volume

Shares 360

Investment risk — high

Investment potential — high

AI Factors

stagflation

Quantum Computing

Internet of Things

United States - China Relations

Cloud Computing

Japanese Economy

Labor Supply

Inflation

Generative AI

Labor Costs

Supply Chain Disruptions

Consumer Spending

UK Economy

Possible US government shutdown

USD Average Exchange Rate

European Bond Market

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