New York, February 7, 2026, 15:20 EST — The market has closed.
- IBM finished Friday’s session up 3.1% at $298.93, with the stock trading as low as $289.30 and touching $299.86 at its peak.
- U.S. stocks staged a sharp rebound, as traders shifted their focus to AI spending and worries over growth.
- IBM’s dividend record date is set for next week, with Confluent shareholders scheduled to vote on the proposed IBM acquisition Feb. 12.
Shares of International Business Machines Corp added 3.12% on Friday, ending the session at $298.93. The move leaves the stock on stronger footing heading into Monday, after a volatile stretch for U.S. tech.
The rebound made headlines, coming as it did on a risk-friendly day that saw the Dow notch its first-ever close above 50,000. This followed three straight losing sessions, driven by jitters about whether heavy spending on AI would deliver. “There’s enough evidence that there’s real demand for AI products,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird. 1
Macro numbers played a role, too. The University of Michigan’s preliminary February gauge came in at 57.3, suggesting a modest pickup in U.S. consumer sentiment. Still, “concerns about the erosion of personal finances from high prices and elevated risk of job loss continue to be widespread,” said survey director Joanne Hsu. 2
IBM grabbed attention with a late-week announcement: On Thursday, the company revealed it’s been tapped to support the Missile Defense Agency’s SHIELD program, signing on under an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. That arrangement caps the potential value but leaves actual work dependent on specific task orders. “IBM is proud to partner with the Missile Defense Agency,” said Susan Wedge, IBM’s managing partner for the U.S. federal market. 3
IBM pulled ahead of several other mega-caps in Friday’s session, outgaining Microsoft, with Alphabet moving lower, MarketWatch numbers show. Shares closed roughly 8% off their 52-week high, trading on slightly lighter volume than the 50-day norm. 4
IBM handed investors a quarterly dividend of $1.68 per share, according to the company’s fourth-quarter report. The board set Feb. 10 as the record date, with the payout scheduled for March 10. 5
M&A is still on the list. Confluent’s proxy statement put a Feb. 12 date on the calendar—a special meeting for shareholders to weigh in on IBM’s planned acquisition. 6
IBM in December said it plans to acquire data infrastructure player Confluent for $11 billion in cash, targeting a bigger slice of the AI-fueled cloud and software market. Confluent CEO Jay Kreps is set to move over to IBM Software after the deal wraps, according to Reuters. 7
Looking past next week, IBM has pegged April 22 as the tentative date for its first-quarter 2026 earnings report, according to its investor calendar. 8
The risk here isn’t complicated. That $151 billion ceiling on the SHIELD contract doesn’t translate directly to revenue, and federal task orders tend to be unpredictable—timing is often political, and the flow is anything but steady. Confluent’s deal hasn’t crossed the finish line yet; approvals are still pending. And in tech, investor mood can shift fast if they start seeing AI investments as a drag on margins instead of a growth engine.
Come Monday, eyes turn to IBM to see if it manages to stick close to that $300 mark following Friday’s rally—or if the shares slide back into the broader week’s risk-on, risk-off swings.
Eyes now turn to IBM’s Feb. 10 dividend record date, with Confluent’s Feb. 12 shareholder vote right on its heels. Both events—circled on the calendar—could draw fresh focus to IBM, regardless of what’s happening in the wider market.
