New chip could be double win for IBM

Article Excerpt

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. $161 (New York symbol IBM, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 985.0 million; Market cap: $158.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ibm.com) has developed a new computer chip with four times more transistors than current models by using a silicon-germanium base instead of pure silicon. This innovation will greatly speed up computers while using much less power. The company has sold most of its chipmaking operations over the past few years, so if this technology becomes commercially viable, IBM will license it to other manufacturers. Faster chips would also make the company’s analytics software perform better. IBM is a buy. buy…