NEW YORK, Feb 8, 2026, 14:43 (EST) — Markets have shut for the day.
- IBM notched a 3.1% gain Friday, beating out the broader market and leaving most major tech names behind.
- Software stocks face another choppy stretch, with traders still locked in on the ongoing debate over AI investment.
- Coming up: U.S. CPI lands Feb. 13; a day earlier, Feb. 12, there’s a vote related to IBM’s Confluent bid.
IBM jumped 3.1% Friday to close at $298.93, logging back-to-back gains and ending the week just shy of $300. Shares beat Microsoft’s performance, while Alphabet lost ground. Trading volume, however, stayed under IBM’s 50-day average, according to MarketWatch data. (MarketWatch)
The rebound stands out: Investors have been gravitating toward more stable picks following sharp market swings, despite the Dow reaching a new record on Friday and software stocks losing roughly $1 trillion last week. “The selloff in the names that carried markets higher may have paused,” said Tim Murray, capital markets strategist at T. Rowe Price, in comments to Reuters. (Reuters)
Macro’s in focus: The U.S. Consumer Price Index for January drops Feb. 13 at 8:30 a.m. ET—a release with the potential to shake up rate and tech valuation forecasts. IBM, meanwhile, is set for a Feb. 12 shareholder meeting at Confluent, the data-streaming outfit it’s buying in a deal pegged at roughly $11 billion. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Friday’s action gave stocks a lift. The Dow topped 50,000 for the first time ever, fueled by surging chipmakers betting that big cloud players will keep pouring money into AI data-center hardware—even as Amazon pointed out a steep jump in capex. “This trade has been volatile,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird. (Reuters)
IBM is working to channel that spending cycle into its own software and services lineup. “Our generative AI book of business now stands at more than $12.5 billion,” CEO Arvind Krishna said in the latest quarterly release, referencing IBM’s category for contracted sales and related work. The company set its quarterly dividend at $1.68 per share, with shareholders on record as of Feb. 10 set to receive payment March 10. (IBM Newsroom)
If you like IBM, you’ve heard this story before: hefty installed base, steady software revenue rolling in, and a dividend that keeps IBM shares relevant when money shifts out of expensive growth plays. Traders also keep an eye on it as a Dow name—one hefty swing in a few stocks and that price-weighted index can shift fast.
Still, the setup looks messy. Investors keep circling back to the pace of AI spending turning into actual profits—so software and services stocks could stay twitchy. IBM has its own headaches, too, with deal timing and integration risk hanging over the story. And if inflation data comes in hotter than forecast, bond yields could head up, putting more pressure on equity multiples.
IBM’s Feb. 10 dividend record date lands first, closely followed by the Confluent shareholder vote on Feb. 12, then that Feb. 13 CPI release. Those three events line up as potential pulse-setters for IBM shares when U.S. markets resume trading Monday.
