By Ines Ferré
Publication Date: 2026-04-23 14:05:00
What happened: IBM (IBM) stock plummeted more than 10% at the market open on Thursday, joining a sell-off in software names like ServiceNow (NOW) and Oracle (ORCL).
What’s behind the move: IBM’s first quarter results failed to calm investor anxiety over artificial intelligence’s impact on the infrastructure and software giant. Software sales grew more than expected, but revenue in the company’s consulting segment came in shy of estimates.
The enterprise information technology company maintained its full-year guidance of constant currency revenue growth above 5% versus estimates of more than 5.1%. Wall Street may view that as a cautious outlook given the company’s recently closed Confluent acquisition, which is expected to contribute additional revenue.
What else you need to know: Investors have been selling off software stocks over fears that AI will disrupt their business models and replace their software products.
In February, IBM plummeted more…