Yesterday, after the close of the main trading session, International Business Machines (IBM) released its Q1 earnings report, exceeding Wall Street analysts’ expectations in several key areas. According to FactSet:

→ Earnings per share came in at $1.60 (forecast = $1.42), although this was below last year’s figure of $1.68.
→ Quarterly revenue reached $14.54 billion (forecast = $14.39 billion), marking a 1% increase year-on-year.

Initially, IBM shares rose on the news, but then dropped by approximately 6% during after-hours trading, according to Google Finance.

This suggests that today’s trading session may see IBM shares open below the $230 mark.

Market participants may have been disappointed by the following:

→ IBM’s mainframe business (large-scale computing systems designed for high-volume data processing) continued its decline, falling by 6% year-on-year.
→ Revenue from software and consulting divisions increased, but only by 3% compared to the same period last year.
→ The revenue forecast for Q2 stands at $6.6 billion – a 3% decline relative to the same quarter in 2024.

Technical Analysis of IBM Share Price

The chart shows signs of seller activity above the psychological level of $250. As indicated by the arrows, the price attempted several rallies above this level with varying momentum, but each time retreated back.

At the same time, price fluctuations formed a downward channel, which was extended to the downside in early April amid news regarding new tariffs in international trade.

Price stabilisation observed between 15–17 April suggests that supply and demand were temporarily balanced ahead of the earnings release. However, the negative market reaction to the report may shift sentiment and act as a catalyst for further price movement towards the lower boundary of the channel, around the key support level of $215.

Buy and sell stocks of the world's biggest publicly-listed companies with CFDs on FXOpen’s trading platform. Open your FXOpen account now or learn more about trading share CFDs with FXOpen.

This article represents the opinion of the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand only. It is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation with respect to products and services provided by the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand, nor is it to be considered financial advice.