Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of IBM Arvind Krishna attends the 55th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2025.
Yves Herman | Reuters
IBM surged 14% Thursday on the back of a strong fourth-quarter print that showed artificial intelligence growth boosting its software business.
The move put the stock on pace for its best day since July 20, 2000, when shares popped 13%.
The company reported adjusted earnings of $3.92 per share adjusted on $17.55 billion in revenue after the bell Wednesday. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected earnings to come in at $3.75 per share and revenues to reach $17.54 billion.
IBM reported a 1% rise in revenues overall, while its software unit grew 10% on a year-over-year basis amid growing demand for artificial intelligence and its operating system known as Red Hat Linux. CEO Arvind Krishna also said that the company posted $5 billion in bookings for its generative AI segment.
“We closed the year with double-digit revenue growth in Software for the quarter, led by further acceleration in Red Hat,” he said in a statement. “Clients globally continue to turn to IBM to transform with AI.”
Shares of IBM have gained 18% since the start of the year.