Confluent Clears Key U.S. Antitrust Hurdle in IBM Deal

Confluent ( (CFLT) ) just unveiled an announcement.

Confluent, Inc. disclosed that it entered into a merger agreement on December 7, 2025 with International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) under which a wholly owned IBM subsidiary, Corvo Merger Sub, Inc., will be merged into Confluent, leaving Confluent as a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM. The transaction moved a step closer to completion when the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act expired on January 12, 2026, removing a key U.S. antitrust hurdle, though the deal still depends on additional regulatory clearances in other jurisdictions and approval by Confluent shareholders at a special meeting scheduled for February 12, 2026, signaling continued but not yet finalized progress toward IBM’s acquisition of the data-streaming company.

The most recent analyst rating on (CFLT) stock is a Hold with a $31.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Confluent stock, see the CFLT Stock Forecast page.

Spark’s Take on CFLT Stock

According to Spark, TipRanks’ AI Analyst, CFLT is a Outperform.

Confluent’s overall stock score is driven by strong earnings call performance and positive corporate events, particularly the merger with IBM. However, challenges in achieving profitability and a negative P/E ratio weigh on the score. The technical analysis indicates strong momentum, but potential overbought conditions could pose risks.

To see Spark’s full report on CFLT stock, click here.

More about Confluent

Confluent, Inc. is a U.S.-based software company that provides a data streaming platform built around Apache Kafka, serving enterprise customers that require real-time data infrastructure and integration across applications and cloud environments.

Average Trading Volume: 11,694,291

Technical Sentiment Signal: Buy

Current Market Cap: $10.8B

See more insights into CFLT stock on TipRanks’ Stock Analysis page.