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IBM (IBM) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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IBM (IBM - Free Report) closed at $124.22 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.45% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.46% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.13%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.25%.

Heading into today, shares of the technology and consulting company had lost 1.99% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 2.23% and the S&P 500's gain of 1% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from IBM as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect IBM to post earnings of $2.54 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 5.22%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $17.76 billion, down 1.47% from the year-ago period.

IBM's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $11.08 per share and revenue of $73.73 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -13.51% and -4.43%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for IBM. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. IBM is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, IBM is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 11.06. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 19.7, so we one might conclude that IBM is trading at a discount comparatively.

It is also worth noting that IBM currently has a PEG ratio of 3.37. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Computer - Integrated Systems stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.61 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Computer - Integrated Systems industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 80, which puts it in the top 32% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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