These U.S. techs offer you reliable income

Article Excerpt

Businesses have slowed their purchases of new computer equipment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That has weighed on the share prices of these two tech giants. However, recent acquisitions are set to expand their profits—and dividends—when demand recovers. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. $107 is a buy. The company (New York symbol IBM; Conservative-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 888.4 million; Market cap: $95.1 billion; Dividend yield: 6.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.ibm.com) last raised its quarterly dividend by 0.6% with the June 2020 payment. The new annual rate of $6.52 a share yields a high 6.1%. On July 9, 2019, IBM completed its acquisition of Red Hat Inc. for $34 billion. Red Hat is a leading developer of software for cloud-based computing systems. Despite that purchase, IBM’s revenue in the three months ended September 30, 2020, fell 2.6%, to $17.56 billion from $18.03 billion a year earlier. Weaker demand for the company’s legacy operations, partly due to COVID-19…