International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a technology company operating in five business segments: Global Technology Services, Information Technology, Global Business Services, Systems and Technology and Software. The stock is currently trading around $172.67 at the middle of its 52 week range of $149.52-$196.40. The stock has been outperforming the market this year rising 7.69% year to date. IBM is scheduled to report earnings after the closing bell today, and the stock is up on the day by $0.22 or 0.13% ahead of the close.
Over the past 12 quarters IBM has rallied on earnings day 4 times with an average move of 4.66%. The stock appears bullish on a chart going into the release having traded above or in the Ichimoku Cloud for the past few months since late-March on the daily bars. Over the past 12 quarters IBM has rallied from earnings to the nearest options expiration 3 times with an average move of 4.93%. The stock looks as if it could rip to the upside in today’s session following the 4 month trend. Investors are expecting to see how the company performs at earnings largely due to disappointing earnings in previous quarters. The company has reported declining revenues on a year-over-year basis, and intensifying competition in the industry continue to be major headwind.
The options market is currently implying a move of around $6.90 or 4.0% in IBM by this Friday’s close giving us targets of $165.77 and $179.57.