By Simply Wall St
Publication Date: 2026-02-12 17:25:00
- IBM has agreed to acquire Confluent (NasdaqGS:CFLT) in a transaction valued at $11b.
- The deal is structured as a definitive agreement and is expected to close around mid 2026, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.
- The acquisition would shift Confluent into IBM’s ownership, with implications for customers, employees, and the broader data streaming and cloud markets.
For investors, the headline is that Confluent, currently trading at $30.51, is now at the center of a large cash transaction that could reshape its role in data streaming. The stock has a mixed return profile, with a 4.2% return over 3 years and a 19.0% decline over the past year, which shows how the market has treated the company ahead of this agreement.
The key questions are how regulators and shareholders respond to the deal and what IBM’s ownership could mean for Confluent’s product roadmap and customer relationships if the transaction closes. Until there is more clarity on approvals and deal structure…
