Truist Securities Initiates IBM Coverage With Hold Rating

Truist Securities initiated coverage of International Business Machines Corp. with a Hold rating and a price target of $240.00. Analyst Arvind Ramnani noted that while the company is well-positioned in enterprise computing, there are concerns regarding near-term execution and the timing of enterprise AI infrastructure spending.

This assessment follows a period of volatility for the company, which saw its stock drop more than 20% after second-quarter 2026 revenue of $17.2 billion fell short of the $17.5 billion consensus estimate. Other financial firms have offered diverging views, with Yorkville Ives initiating coverage with an outperform rating and a $275 target, while Bernstein SocGen Group lowered its price target to $230.

To strengthen its position in the artificial intelligence sector, the company entered a strategic partnership with OpenAI to integrate AI models into the IBM Consulting platform. In a separate move to streamline its intellectual property, the company sold its blockchain patent portfolio, comprising more than 680 patent families, to Circle Internet Group.