One of the world's largest companies has an unexpected drop in the stock market. Is something happening in the economy?
Stock market decline. Illustrative photo / Engdao Wichitpunya | Dreamstime.com
The computer technology industry has been defined by a few names in recent decades, mainly from America. One of these companies has fallen 11.5% on the stock market in the last 21 days, causing astonishment not only in the capital markets, but also in other industries. It's about IBM.
Shares of International Business Machines (IBM) have fallen 11.5% in the past 21 days of trading, and among investors worried about this decline there is a key concern, according to Forbes. How resilient is IBM stock if the markets go into a downturn?
The stock has been hit harder than the S&P 500 during economic downturns, given the magnitude of the stock's decline and the speed of the recovery.
Ahead of the 2022 inflation shock, IBM shares fell 20.2% from a peak of $145.21 on June 11, 2021, to $115.81 on November 26, 2021, compared with a 25.4% peak-to-trough drop for the S&P 500.
Since then, the stock has risen to a high of $314.98 on November 12, 2025, and was trading at $256.28 on Friday.
Almost 40% drop during the pandemic
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, IBM shares fell 39.0% from a peak of $149.08 on February 12, 2020 to $90.97 on March 23, 2020, compared to a 33.9% peak-to-trough drop for the S&P 500.
However, the stock returned to its pre-crisis peak by November 22, 2022.
Between March 1, 2017, and December 24, 2018, amid a market correction, IBM shares fell 40.9% from $174.65 to $103.26, compared with a 19.8% peak-to-trough decline for the S&P 500. The stock returned to its pre-crisis peak through January 25 2024.
During the 2008 crisis it fell by almost 45%
Between July 22 and November 20, 2008, amid the global financial crisis, IBM stock fell 44.8% from $124.79 to $68.86, compared to a peak-to-trough drop of 56.8% for the S&P 500. The stock returned to pre-crisis levels by December 23, 2009.
IBM, one of America's best-known manufacturers of advanced technology, is today a $239 billion company that generates $65 billion in revenue.
It was founded in 1911, in Endicott, New York, by Charles Ranlett Flint and Thomas J. Watson Sr., according to StartupCafe.ro. The company was originally called the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR), and from 1924 it bears the name it still has today.
PHOTO: Engdao Wichitpunya | Dreamstime.com
