IBM helps cut Verizon’s 5G costs

Article Excerpt

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. $142 is a buy. The company (New York symbol IBM, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares o/s: 893.5 million; Market cap: $126.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 4.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ibm.com) paid $34 billion for Red Hat in July 2019. That firm is a leading developer of software for cloud systems. Thanks to Red Hat’s expertise, IBM signed a long-term deal to help Verizon (see page 71) improve the performance of its 5G wireless networks by using artificial intelligence (AI) to automate certain functions. AI will also look for potential network problems, and cut maintenance costs. IBM has not yet revealed how much this contract is worth. However, the agreement should lead to more deals with other wireless carriers as they roll out their 5G networks. IBM is a buy. buy…