New York, February 17, 2026, 14:19 EST — Regular session
- IBM slipped roughly 1.4% in the afternoon, as tech names took another hit.
- Evercore ISI is sticking with its Buy rating, calling IBM’s 2026 free cash flow goal conservative.
- IBM’s Feb. 26 Technology Summit is on traders’ radar, with the focus squarely on fresh details about its “agentic AI” strategy.
Shares of International Business Machines Corp slipped Tuesday, erasing an earlier uptick. An Evercore ISI analyst still argued IBM’s 2026 cash-flow goal is within reach.
It was a significant shift, given that software and IT stocks are still facing heavy selling, rattled by concerns that new AI tools might disrupt subscription and billable-hour business models. After the long weekend, traders saw choppy action; tech-heavy sectors took more hits. Microsoft lost ground, while software players like CrowdStrike, Adobe, and Salesforce dropped anywhere from 2% to 5%, according to Reuters.
IBM faces a straightforward concern from investors: can it continue to grow its cash pile as it ramps up AI software and services sales, all while relying on acquisitions to close its own gaps.
IBM slipped 1.4% to $258.76 as of 2:04 p.m. ET. Shares had moved between $254.66 and $260.60 earlier, and volume was around 2.8 million at last check.
Evercore ISI’s Amit Daryanani thinks IBM’s free cash flow might top the company’s target for 2026, pointing to anticipated net income gains and some balance-sheet benefits linked to software revenue. He’s sticking with his Buy call and a $345 price target, per a TipRanks summary of his note.
IBM projected over 5% revenue growth for 2026 on a constant-currency basis in its Jan. 28 earnings release, leaving out the impact of exchange rates. The company is targeting roughly $1 billion in additional free cash flow compared to 2025, when it reported $14.7 billion. IBM also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.68, payable March 10.
IBM is still moving ahead with its planned acquisition of Confluent, aiming to strengthen the data infrastructure needed for enterprise AI. In December, IBM and Confluent announced a $31 per share all-cash offer, putting the deal’s value near $11 billion. They’re targeting a close by mid-2026, according to both companies.
Confluent announced in a Feb. 12 filing that shareholders gave the green light to the merger agreement. The deal, however, still hinges on a few unresolved conditions, such as regulatory sign-offs.
The bear case isn’t complicated. Should the AI “disruption” trade stretch further, investors may keep pressing down on software and services valuations, while corporate buyers might tap the brakes on discretionary IT projects. IBM, for its part, still faces the challenge of proving that rising expenses and deal noise won’t undermine the cash narrative it’s pitching.
IBM’s got its Technology Summit on “Agent Ops and Responsible AI” coming up Feb. 26, where the company aims to detail its approach to running “agentic AI”—that’s AI capable of acting across tools and workflows—within the watsonx portfolio. More at Webcasts.
