International Business Machines (IBM) stock has fallen 4.4% over the past week and 4.7% over the past month, though it is still up 5.9% over the last twelve months. Wall Street’s analysts are moderately bullish, forecasting a move toward a 12‑month price target of $326.80 from the last close at $237.18.
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New trading tool for IBM bullsThis target suggests meaningful upside and reflects growing conviction that IBM can be a defensive play in a hostile market for enterprise software. Analysts see the company’s long history and role at the core of complex IT infrastructures as a key strength that could support the next wave of enterprise AI systems.
Analyst Fatima Boolani of Citi has initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $285 price target, implying about 20.2% expected share price return from current levels. Boolani, who ranks 802 out of 12,068 analysts with a 56.63% success rate and 12.5% average return per rating, views the near‑term risk‑reward as compelling.
In her view, IBM benefits from a deeply layered mix of hardware and infrastructure software that is hard to displace, along with consulting capabilities that can be repurposed as forward‑deployed engineering talent for AI‑native partners. Recent deals involving HashiCorp and Confluent are seen as adding cross‑portfolio product and consulting synergies that leverage IBM’s global distribution reach.
Boolani also highlights IBM’s exposure to several AI demand tailwinds with relatively low capital intensity, a lucrative mainframe cycle, transaction processing strength, and long‑term quantum computing potential. Combined with scope for better expense efficiency, positive EPS and free‑cash‑flow revisions, and a valuation discount to larger tech peers, she argues the stock deserves a higher multiple. Never miss a stock rating. Find all the latest ratings on TipRanks’ Top Wall Street Analysts page.