Here's Why IBM's AI Growth Makes It a Stock to Buy Now

3 weeks ago 9

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Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool

Wed, Mar 26, 2025, 6:17 AM 4 min read

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There are galore reasons to put successful IBM (NYSE: IBM) these days. The centennial tech elephantine is simply a starring researcher successful quantum computing. The banal trades astatine humble valuation ratios, similar 18.5 times escaped currency travel and 21.6 times guardant earnings. And Big Blue's 2.8% dividend output is much than doubly the mean among S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) stocks.

But 1 portion of my concern thesis for IBM weighs heavier than the rest. Above all, IBM is simply a powerhouse successful business-class artificial quality (AI). The institution has been preparing itself for this unsocial constituent successful computing history, and AI maturation should thrust IBM banal overmuch higher successful the adjacent fewer years.

IBM was speedy to respond erstwhile OpenAI unleashed ChatGPT successful November 2022. Six months later, Big Blue released the Watsonx level of generative AI tools for firm clients.

This strategy was ever antithetic from consumer-facing ample connection models (LLMs) specified arsenic ChatGPT oregon Alphabet's (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Gemini. The IBM tools are focused squarely connected enterprise-class customers, with features that your mean user astir apt wouldn't attraction about.

Watsonx's information flows tin beryllium audited, from LLM-training inputs to last chatbot outputs. It was built to gully actionable conclusions straight from a company's proprietary information, portion besides protecting that accusation from extracurricular access. This is simply a concern tool, not a plaything.

Sales were dilatory astatine first. Software and work buyers successful this class often importune connected heavy investigating of immoderate prospective big-ticket investment. The budgets besides request rubber stamps, often from respective layers of management. This worldly takes time, truthful IBM didn't precisely contention retired of the generative AI starting gates.

But the institution reported much than $1 cardinal of Watsonx-based contracts successful the archetypal 4th of 2024 -- little than a twelvemonth later. That "book of business" doubled to $2 cardinal successful the adjacent report, stepping up to $3 cardinal successful the 3rd 4th and implicit $5 cardinal by the extremity of the year.

The generative AI concern is picking up steam quickly.

I'm not talking astir straight-up bundle licenses. IBM supplements its bundle with a overmuch larger helping of consulting services. About 80% of the bid publication held generative AI consulting contracts successful the 4th quarter.

This is simply a concern vantage different AI providers aren't adjacent trying to copy. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) doesn't adjacent notation its consulting concern successful caller net calls. The word was past mentioned successful passing successful January, 2023. It's conscionable not a large woody to Microsoft. Alphabet spends adjacent little conference-call clip connected consulting concepts, and the aforesaid goes for Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN).

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