IBM remains on track

Article Excerpt

IBM, $139.82, (New York symbol IBM; Shares o/s: 893.5 million; Market cap: $124.0 billion; Above Average; Yield: 4.7%) dropped in early July after the company announced that President Jim Whitehurst—appointed at the time of IBM’s $33 billion acquisition of cloud-software provider Red Hat—is leaving after two years. Whitehurst became president when Arvind Krishna was named IBM CEO in January 2020. Investors are likely worried the company will lose the benefit of Whitehurst’s expertise as it restructures to focus on cloud computing and artificial intelligence. However, Whitehurst will continue to serve as an adviser to IBM. More important, under CEO Krishna’s leadership, we think IBM is on its way to regaining its past pre-eminence as it continues moving into high-growth areas and out of slower-expanding markets. The upcoming spinoff of IBM’s Managed Infrastructure Services unit is another move in that direction. IBM remains a buy. buy…