NEW YORK, Jan 2, 2026, 20:43 ET — Market closed
- International Business Machines closed down 1.59% at $291.50 on Friday, even as the S&P 500 and Dow finished higher. 1
- IBM rolled out early-access availability for its first Quantum Nighthawk processor and a new “Heron r3” offering, according to a tech-industry report. 2
- Investors are looking ahead to U.S. jobs data on Jan. 9 and IBM’s Jan. 28 (preliminary) earnings date. 3
Shares of International Business Machines Corp fell 1.59% on Friday to close at $291.50, extending a three-session slide as the first trading day of 2026 ended with U.S. equities modestly higher. 1
The move matters now because January brings a dense run of economic releases and the start of quarterly reporting, events that often reset expectations for interest rates and corporate IT spending. 3
For IBM, the next major checkpoint is its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings announcement scheduled for Jan. 28, listed as a preliminary date on the company’s investor calendar. 4
On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.19% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.66%, while IBM’s trading volume was about 4.6 million shares, slightly below its 50-day average, MarketWatch data showed. 1
IBM closed about 10% below its 52-week high of $324.90, hit on Nov. 12, after a late-2025 rally that left the stock sensitive to shifts in risk appetite early in the new year. 1
Away from the tape, IBM has been pushing new milestones in quantum computing. The company launched its first Quantum Nighthawk processor, dubbed “IBM_Miami,” and said it is releasing an “IBM_Boston” offering that it described as its most powerful “IBM Quantum Heron r3” to date, Data Center Dynamics reported. 2
IBM_Miami is available as an exploratory, early-access preview via IBM’s Premium and Flex plans, the report said. It described the chip as a “quantum processing unit,” essentially a specialized processor that uses quantum bits, or qubits, rather than the 1s and 0s of traditional computing. 2
IBM said IBM_Miami delivered median “T1 coherence times” of about 350 microseconds — a measure of how long a qubit can hold its state before noise degrades it — and published performance metrics alongside the release. 2
Nighthawk is built with 120 qubits and 218 tunable couplers, and IBM has said the added connectivity lets users run circuits needing up to 5,000 two-qubit gates — basic operations that link two qubits — with future iterations targeting 7,500 gates by end-2026. 2
Regulatory filings also ticked over. A Form 4 filing showed IBM director Alex Gorsky deferred board fees into 363 “Promised Fee Shares,” a derivative security under IBM’s Board of Directors Deferred Compensation and Equity Award Plan that is paid out after retirement in company stock or cash. 5
IBM’s decline came with a mixed showing among large-cap tech. IBM outperformed Microsoft, which fell 2.21%, but lagged Alphabet, whose shares closed higher, MarketWatch data showed. 1
Before the next session on Monday, traders will watch whether IBM holds above Friday’s intraday low near $289 after the stock ranged from roughly $289 to $297.57 during the session, according to Investing.com pricing data. 6
Broader markets are bracing for catalysts that can move rate-sensitive stocks. U.S. jobs data is due Jan. 9 and the consumer price index is due Jan. 13, while investors assess the timing of any Federal Reserve policy moves. “The market is looking for direction,” Matthew Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak, told Reuters. 3
The Fed’s next policy meeting is scheduled for Jan. 27-28, setting up a busy stretch that culminates with IBM’s earnings date on Jan. 28. Investors are expected to focus on IBM’s outlook for software and consulting demand, and whether management commentary supports the stock’s recent rerating. 7
