New York, Feb 11, 2026, 17:40 ET — After-hours
International Business Machines Corp (IBM) shares ended down 6.5% at $272.81 on Wednesday and were last up 0.2% at $273.40 in after-hours trading, the session after the 4 p.m. ET close. The stock opened at $292.34 and slid to $272.36, with about 7.5 million shares traded.
IBM was the biggest percentage decliner on the Dow, which slipped 0.13% as a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report cooled expectations for quick Federal Reserve rate cuts. Odds that rates hold steady in June climbed to 41% from 24.8%, even as markets still price at least one 25-basis-point cut (0.25 percentage point), CME Group’s FedWatch tool showed. “This is constructive news in that the economy is not in dire need of rate cuts,” said Julia Hermann, global market strategist at New York Life Investments, with investors now looking to Friday’s U.S. consumer price index report. Reuters
Software stocks were hit again as investors debated how quickly new AI tools could automate work and squeeze fees. A tax-planning feature from fintech Altruist and AI-based legal drafting tools unveiled by Anthropic helped spark the pullback, the Wall Street Journal reported, with Salesforce and Intuit among the laggards.
The selling came a day after IBM rolled out a revamped FlashSystem storage lineup that it said is “co-run by agentic AI” — software agents that can take actions with limited human input. IBM said FlashSystem.ai brings AI agents to storage arrays as co-administrators and that a new FlashCore module can detect ransomware in under a minute; the portfolio is due to be generally available on March 6. “The next-generation IBM FlashSystem elevates storage to an intelligent, always-available layer,” said Sam Werner, general manager of IBM Storage, while IDC’s Natalya Yezhkova said the new capabilities allow organisations to “quickly react to changing business requirements.” IBM Newsroom
Another thread for IBM investors is deal news. Confluent, which IBM agreed to buy for $31 per share in cash in a deal valued at $11 billion, reported quarterly revenue of $314.8 million, up 21%, and reiterated that the transaction is expected to close by the middle of 2026, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals. Confluent said it will not hold a conference call or provide financial guidance while the merger is pending.
IBM has been trying to frame itself as an enterprise bet on hybrid cloud, security and AI, with cash flows that can hold up when risk appetite fades. Wednesday’s move was a reminder that, on a rough tape, even the “steadier” tech names can get sold.
But the downside case is easy to sketch. A hotter-than-expected CPI print could keep bond yields climbing and extend the pressure on rate-sensitive tech stocks, while another round of “AI disruption” headlines could bring more selling in software.
For now, traders will watch whether IBM stabilises in Thursday’s session and whether software shares keep bleeding into the weekend. The next company-specific marker on the calendar is IBM’s first-quarter earnings announcement, which IBM lists for April 22 (preliminary date).
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