PREVIEW: IBM Q4 revenue, EPS seen rising

Confluent

28/01/2026 17:11

** Shares in International Business Machines IBM.N were close to flat on Wednesday ahead of fourth-quarter report due out after market close.

** Wall Street sees the tech giant reporting adj EPS of $4.32 vs $3.92 in Q4 2024 on rev of $19.23 bln vs $17.55 bln, according to the latest LSEG data

** In last 8 quarters IBM's EPS and revenue beat the Street every time

** In October IBM had reported a slowdown in growth in its key cloud software segment, overshadowing booming AI-driven demand for the company's new mainframe that pushed third-quarter sales and profit above market estimates. In early December IBM announced a $11 billion deal to buy data infrastructure company Confluent CFLT.O to ramp up its cloud-computing offerings to capitalize on an AI-driven demand boom.

** IBM shares last traded at $293.64 vs median PT of $302.50, up slightly from $300 month ago, according to LSEG, which shows 23 analyst ratings: 6 'strong buy,' 5 'buy,' 9 'hold' and 3 'sell'

** YTD shares are down 0.8% vs Dow Industrial's .DJI 1.9% gain and S&P 500 tech sector .SPLRCT, which is up 1.1%

** IBM options imply a 6.5% swing for the shares, in either direction, by Friday, just below the stock's 8-qtr post earnings 1-day avg move of 7.0%, according to Trade Alert

(Reporting by Sinead Carew, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed)

((sinead.carew@thomsonreuters.com))