Evercore maintains an Outperform rating on IBM. The investment firm established a price target of $345 for the stock.
Analysts project the company will surpass its 2026 free cash flow target of $15.7 billion. Expected growth in net income and deferred software revenue serve as the primary drivers for this projected outperformance.
The forecast accounts for IBM’s proposed $11 billion acquisition of Confluent. This transaction is expected to strengthen the company's software division as it expands its artificial intelligence and hybrid cloud solutions.