NEW YORK, January 2, 2026, 11:45 ET — Regular session
- IBM shares slid about 1.4% in late-morning trade, lagging a mixed U.S. tape
- Big tech was uneven, with chipmakers firmer but several megacaps lower
- Focus turns to next week’s U.S. jobs and inflation data and IBM’s upcoming earnings
Shares of International Business Machines (IBM) fell about 1.4% on Friday, extending a pullback below the $300 level as the first full trading day of 2026 got underway. The stock traded at $292.20, after touching $291.43 at the session low.
The move matters now because IBM is a bellwether for enterprise tech spending and a Dow component, and investors are resetting positions as a busy January calendar approaches. Traders are also watching whether rate expectations and Washington policy headlines that drove late-2025 swings carry into the new year.
The broader market was mixed. The Dow hovered higher while the Nasdaq was weaker, and the S&P 500 was little changed in late morning trade.
Within tech, the tape split between AI-linked chip names and some megacap platforms. Nvidia rose about 1.7% and Broadcom gained about 1.3%, while Microsoft and Amazon slipped more than 2% each.
“The next Fed Chair is probably going to be much more dovish than Jerome Powell,” said Dennis Dick, chief market strategist at Stock Trader Network, in a market note cited by Reuters. Reuters
The next macro test is close. Reuters flagged the monthly jobs report due January 9 and the consumer price index (CPI) report—an inflation gauge—due January 13 as key early-January events, alongside the start of fourth-quarter earnings season and ongoing uncertainty around tariffs and the next Federal Reserve chair.
For IBM investors, attention is also shifting to the company’s next set of results. IBM’s investor relations site lists its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings announcement for January 28, 2026, noting the date as preliminary.
IBM heads into that report after agreeing in December to buy data-infrastructure firm Confluent in an $11 billion deal aimed at strengthening its cloud and AI stack, a transaction it said was subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.
On the tape, the stock’s intraday range has been tight enough to keep the focus on round-number levels rather than headlines. A sustained move back above $300 would mark a near-term turn in sentiment, while a break below Friday’s $291.43 low would put fresh pressure on the downside.
With the stock down while the Dow held up, traders also pointed to rotation risk: investors have been quick to reprice large-cap technology names when rate expectations move, even as chipmakers and other AI beneficiaries attract bids.
Until IBM reports, the stock is likely to take its cue from the same forces driving the index: incoming labor-market data, inflation readings and any shift in expectations for the Fed’s path in 2026.
For now, IBM’s next catalysts are clear: macro data next week, then the company’s January 28 earnings update, where investors will look for demand signals across software and consulting and any further detail on integration plans tied to recent dealmaking.
