NEW YORK, Jan 20, 2026, 20:19 EST — Market closed.
- IBM shares dropped 4.8%, ending the day at $291.35.
- IBM unveiled several new watsonx launches and partnerships this week, covering both consulting services and consumer-focused tools.
- Attention turns to next week’s quarterly reports and what 2026 demand trends will reveal.
International Business Machines shares dropped 4.8%, closing Tuesday at $291.35, a decline of $14.57 from the previous day’s finish.
IBM’s recent drop tightens the margin for a conservative forecast ahead of next week’s earnings. While the company has been promoting its “agentic AI” services and new partnerships, investors remain focused on the guidance rather than the buzz.
U.S. stocks suffered their sharpest one-day decline in three months after President Donald Trump hinted at new tariffs on European goods, sparking a wide sell-off in risk assets. Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group, noted he hadn’t seen signs of investors pulling out en masse. 1
IBM rolled out “Enterprise Advantage” this week, a consulting service designed to help clients build, manage, and scale internal AI platforms. The company said it can integrate with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. According to IBM, its Consulting Advantage platform has already supported more than 150 client projects. “Many organizations are investing in AI, but achieving real value at scale remains a major challenge,” said Mohamad Ali, senior vice president and head of IBM Consulting. 2
In a Davos-related move, Middle East telecom giant e& teamed up with IBM to roll out “agentic AI” in policy, risk, and compliance areas—software agents that act under strict governance rules rather than just providing answers. “Our ambition is to move beyond isolated AI use cases,” said e& Group CEO Hatem Dowidar. IBM’s Ana Paula Assis stressed that as companies embed AI into core systems, “governance and accountability” grow just as crucial as intelligence. 3
On Tuesday, IBM unveiled “GRAMMY IQ built with watsonx,” a fan quiz and assistant available across Grammys digital platforms. It relies on IBM’s Granite 3.0 large language model (LLM), which is trained on text to generate responses. “We’re inviting fans and members everywhere to engage with music in more meaningful, interactive ways,” said Adam Roth, executive vice president of global partnerships at the Recording Academy. Jonathan Adashek, IBM’s senior vice president of marketing and communications, added that the collaboration is “bringing fans closer to the music they love” using the academy’s archive. 4
IBM’s slide hit the price-weighted Dow hard, since pricier stocks have an outsized impact on the index. MarketWatch’s data flagged IBM and 3M as two of the biggest losers during the session. 5
Tariff chatter and volatile rates could soon hit tech orders if companies hold back on spending. On Tuesday, Morgan Stanley flagged a “perfect storm” brewing for IT hardware budgets through 2026, driven by slowing demand and rising costs. The firm warned this combination ups the odds of earnings cuts in parts of the enterprise tech sector. 6
Investors in IBM will focus on updates around software growth, consulting demand, and cash flow. They’ll also want to hear how fast clients are shifting from pilot projects to full rollouts in “agentic AI” use cases. In this report, a slight shortfall in guidance could carry more weight than a solid quarterly performance.
Traders on Wednesday will keep an eye on tariff news and any new cues from Davos. Deutsche Bank strategists, led by Jim Reid, noted that the market could see bigger swings if the rhetoric heats up. IBM is set to release its quarterly results with a webcast on Jan. 28 at 5 p.m. ET. 7
