IBM Q2 Earnings Shock Sends Stock Plunging 25%, Cybersecurity Stocks Surge

실적/어닝스 | Wed Jul 15 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) | 6 sources

IBM's preliminary earnings, released a week ahead of schedule, missed consensus on both revenue and profit, reflecting an AI-driven reshuffling of IT budgets.

Analysis

[IBM] pre-announced Q2 earnings and missed estimates ^[2][3][5]

• Released preliminary earnings a week ahead of schedule
• Missed consensus on revenue
• profit
• and software revenue growth
• Setback in z17 mainframe program launch
• Stock plunged approximately 25%
• its worst day in nearly 40 years

[Arvind Krishna] acknowledged that customer spending shifted to servers and storage ^[3][6]

• Publicly admitted the company had 'faltered'
• Several large customer deals were held up at quarter-end
• Customers flocked to purchase servers and memory
• Industry-wide cybersecurity concerns distracted customers

[Software vs Hardware Sectors] saw hardware stocks rally and software stocks decline amid AI boom ^[1]

• Hardware makers benefiting from AI infrastructure demand
• Concerns that AI threatens SaaS business models
• Chip stocks up
• software stocks down
• Assessment that 'hardware is eating everyone's lunch'

[Cybersecurity Stocks] surged following Krishna's remarks on cyber spending priorities ^[6]

• CrowdStrike jumped 12%
• Okta and Netskope each rose approximately 11%
• SailPoint
• Zscaler
• SentinelOne
• and Palo Alto Networks rose approximately 7%
• Emergence of Anthropic Mythos amplified cyber threat concerns

[Jim Cramer] advised against buying IBM despite 25% drop ^[5]

• IT budgets concentrated in three areas: cybersecurity
• hardware
• and AI tokens
• IBM has too much exposure to 'other spending' areas
• Risks outweigh appeal of 3%+ dividend yield
• Concerns that deals may be canceled rather than delayed

[Market Reaction] delivered harsh verdict that 'failure will not be tolerated' ^[4]

• Manic market showed no mercy to IBM
• Assessment that failure will not be tolerated

Sources

• [1] What IBM’s profit warning means: Hardware is ‘eating everyone’s lunch’ - MarketWatch Top Stories
• [2] IBM’s stock just had its worst day ever after the surprise release of an earnings miss - MarketWatch Top Stories
• [3] IBM shares plunge 25% as customers shift spending to AI - Financial Times
• [4] Manic markets show no mercy to IBM - Financial Times
• [5] Jim Cramer says IBM's 25% plunge isn't enough to make the stock a buy - CNBC World Markets
• [6] Cybersecurity stocks rally on AI spending change comments from IBM's Krishna - CNBC World Markets