IBM stock holds steady after company confirms death of turnaround CEO Lou Gerstner

29 December 2025

NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 11:51 ET — Regular session

IBM shares were little changed in late morning trade, bucking a softer broader market.
The company said former CEO Lou Gerstner has died at 83, prompting tributes from current CEO Arvind Krishna.
Investors are watching thin year-end trading and the run-up to IBM’s next earnings update in late January.

International Business Machines Corp shares were little changed on Monday, trading up 0.02% at $305.15 in late morning, after the company confirmed the death of former chief executive Lou Gerstner.

The news lands in the final week of 2025, when trading can turn choppy as volumes thin and investors rebalance portfolios before the calendar turns. Reuters+1

For IBM shareholders, the next hard test sits a month away: the company’s fourth-quarter earnings update, scheduled for Jan. 28, according to its investor events calendar. IBM

IBM said Gerstner, who led the company from 1993 to 2002, died over the weekend, and CEO Arvind Krishna shared the news with employees in an internal email. IBM Newsroom+1

“Lou arrived at IBM at a moment when the company’s future was genuinely uncertain,” Krishna wrote. IBM Newsroom

Gerstner, a former RJR Nabisco CEO and American Express executive, was widely credited with steering IBM away from a breakup and toward services, and the stock finished his tenure far higher than when he started, according to Reuters. Reuters

IBM’s muted move came as Wall Street slipped, led by weakness in big technology stocks, with investors looking ahead to Federal Reserve minutes later this week for clues on the 2026 rate path. Reuters+1

The holiday-shortened week is expected to keep volumes light, with U.S. markets closed on Thursday for New Year’s Day, leaving just a few sessions to wrap up 2025. Reuters+1

IBM opened at $304.65 and traded between $303.63 and $306.31 on Monday, data showed.

The backdrop matters for IBM because year-end flows can overwhelm company-specific headlines in the short run, especially in a Dow component that many investors hold through index funds. Reuters

When IBM reports next month, investors will focus on whether the company can sustain demand across its software and consulting businesses and how management frames 2026 priorities, including its hybrid cloud strategy — a mix of on-premise systems and public cloud services. IBM

For now, IBM’s stock remained near unchanged as traders weighed the weekend news and a broader market pullback in thin holiday trading. Reuters

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