New York, February 13, 2026, 17:35 EST — After-hours
- IBM shares closed up 1.1% on Friday after a steep drop a day earlier
- Confluent shareholders approved the merger agreement tied to IBM’s planned acquisition
- U.S. stock markets are shut Monday for Presidents’ Day, stretching the pause into Tuesday’s reopen
International Business Machines Corp (IBM) shares rose 1.10% to close at $262.38 on Friday, snapping a four-session losing streak. The stock outperformed some large-cap tech peers, with Microsoft edging down and Alphabet sliding about 1%, while IBM remained roughly 19% below its 52-week high, MarketWatch data showed. (MarketWatch)
The move comes after Thursday’s tech-led selloff left traders jumpy about what “AI disruption” could mean for software and IT spending, and how fast rate cuts might arrive. The Nasdaq fell more than 2% on Thursday as investors turned cautious ahead of key U.S. inflation data, a Reuters market wrap showed. (Reuters)
IBM’s deal pipeline is also back in view. Confluent said shareholders approved the merger agreement at a Feb. 12 special meeting, with 687,954,937 votes in favor, an SEC filing showed. U.S. equity markets will be closed on Monday for Presidents’ Day, the NYSE calendar shows, leaving the next session on Tuesday.
In after-hours trading — transactions that take place after the 4 p.m. close — IBM was last at $262.38. The shares traded between $256.88 and $264.62 during Friday’s session, on volume of about 6.8 million shares. IBM had dropped 4.87% to $259.52 at Thursday’s close. (Yahoo Finance)
IBM agreed in December to buy Confluent for $31 per share in cash, pitching the acquisition as a way to strengthen its data and software stack for enterprise generative AI. (IBM Newsroom)
The shareholder vote clears a straightforward step, but it doesn’t end the argument investors are having about big tech deals right now. The tougher questions sit with regulators, timing, and how quickly IBM can fold a fast-moving software platform into a larger, slower organization without losing customers.
Away from M&A, IBM also disclosed a workforce push that caught attention in the middle of the market’s debate over AI and jobs. IBM said it will triple entry-level hiring in the United States in 2026, and “yes, it’s for all these jobs that we’re being told AI can do,” Chief Human Resources Officer Nickle LaMoreaux said, according to a Bloomberg report carried by Business Standard. (Business Standard)
It’s not a classic price catalyst, but it feeds into what investors are trying to handicap: whether AI drives real productivity gains, or mostly shifts costs and risk around the enterprise. IBM’s pitch has been that it can sell those tools, and also run itself differently because of them.
But the near-term setup is messy. The Confluent transaction still depends on additional conditions, and the tape has been quick to punish anything that looks like execution risk in software, especially when rates and inflation expectations swing.
With Wall Street shut on Monday, attention turns to Tuesday, Feb. 17, when investors return from the long weekend and reprice both deal risk and the macro backdrop. IBM’s next quarterly dividend is scheduled to be paid on March 10. (Securities and Exchange Commission)
