Is IBM a good stock to buy? We came across a bullish thesis on International Business Machines Corporation on r/ValueInvesting by Corpulos. In this article, we will summarize the bulls’ thesis on IBM. International Business Machines Corporation’s share was trading at $249.10 as of June 18th. IBM’s trailing and forward P/E were 22.04 and 20.12 respectively according to Yahoo Finance.
nullplus/Shutterstock.com
International Business Machines Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated solutions and services in the Americas and internationally. IBM is increasingly being viewed as more than a traditional technology stalwart, with the company emerging as a credible beneficiary of the growing demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. The investment thesis centers on IBM’s unique position at the intersection of hybrid cloud, enterprise software, AI deployment, and next-generation computing technologies.
Read More: 15 AI Stocks That Are Quietly Making Investors Rich
Read More: Undervalued AI Stock Poised For Massive Gains: 10000% Upside Potential
In the first quarter of 2026, IBM delivered strong results, generating $15.9 billion in revenue, up 9.5% year-over-year, driven by growth across software, infrastructure, and its core mainframe business. The company also expanded operating margins by 140 basis points while increasing earnings by nearly 20%, demonstrating that growth is translating into improved profitability.
A key driver of the bullish outlook is the increasing adoption of AI inferencing workloads directly on IBM hardware, particularly among highly regulated customers such as banks, government agencies, and healthcare organizations that require security, reliability, and compliance standards that are difficult to achieve through public hyperscale cloud providers alone.
This creates a sticky customer base and reinforces the value of IBM’s hybrid cloud and AI ecosystem. Despite these favorable trends, IBM shares have declined approximately 16% year-to-date, creating what proponents view as an attractive entry point. Valuation also remains reasonable, with the stock trading at roughly 22.6 times earnings and 17.3 times forward earnings, comparing favorably with other large enterprise technology companies. Beyond AI, IBM’s leadership in quantum computing provides an additional source of upside.
The company was recently identified as the primary recipient of a major U.S. federal quantum award, reinforcing its position as an industry leader in a technology that could become transformative over the coming decade. Supporters believe that if quantum computing follows a trajectory similar to AI’s rapid commercialization, IBM could be positioned for substantial long-term appreciation, creating a compelling risk-reward opportunity from its current share price of $249.
Previously, we covered a bullish thesis on International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) by Magnus Ofstad in December 2024, which highlighted the company’s potential to benefit from the rise of agentic AI through its watsonx.ai platform and autonomous AI agents. IBM’s stock price has appreciated by approximately 8.77% since our coverage. Corpulos shares a similar view but emphasizes IBM’s expanding AI infrastructure business, hybrid cloud strength, and quantum computing leadership as key drivers of future growth.
International Business Machines Corporation is not on our list of the 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 59 hedge fund portfolios held IBM at the end of the first quarter which was 63 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of IBM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than IBM and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
Disclosure: None.
