$IBM(IBM)$’s second-quarter results reveal that corporate AI spending remains strong but highly selective. Enterprises are prioritising computing infrastructure while delaying some software, consulting and mainframe decisions. Quarterly revenue increased only 1% to $17.16 billion. GAAP net income was $2.2 billion, while adjusted earnings reached $2.93 per share. IBM reduced its constant-currency 2026 revenue-growth forecast from more than 5% to 4%–5%, although it maintained guidance for free cash flow to increase by approximately $1 billion year over year. IBM’s official July 22 release contains the results and revised outlook. The segment figures explain the disappointment: Software revenue increased 5% to $7.76 billion. Consulting revenue was app
IBM Plunges 25%, Drags Software Stocks — Is a Style Rotation Underway?
IBM crashed 25.21% to $217 after Q2 revenue came in at approximately $17.2B, up just 1% and missing the ~$17.86B consensus, dragging Salesforce and peers lower. More telling: IBM noted late-June clients were shifting quarterly capex toward servers, storage, and memory to lock in capacity ahead of price hikes — explaining why hardware and semiconductors rallied while software sold off. Is this an isolated earnings miss, or the opening act of a software-to-hardware rotation?
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