The headline grabber is quantum computing, but the reason Barclays actually likes the stock sits somewhere far less glamorous, inside IBM\u2019s enterprise software division<\/strong>.<\/p>\n That distinction matters for everyday investors because it changes what you are really buying when you open an IBM position at the current price levels.<\/p>\n Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow opened coverage with an overweight rating, the firm\u2019s version of a buy, Investing.com reported. His $350 target implied roughly 18% upside <\/strong>from the previous Friday\u2019s close.<\/p>\n IBM\u2019s share price reacted fast, climbing about 9%<\/strong> Monday to fresh all-time highs and capping a near-30% gain in May, IBM\u2019s best month in about 24 years, CNBC reported.<\/p>\n More quantum and AI stocks:<\/strong><\/p>\n Lenschow\u2019s pitch is plain. <\/p>\n He sees \u201ca stable earnings compounder with a Quantum option<\/strong>,\u201d and he is happy to pay for it, Barchart reported. <\/p>\n Wedbush\u2019s Daniel Ives echoed the upgrade, lifting his target to $350 from $320, BigGo reported.<\/p>\n Here is the key point: The $350 target rests on IBM\u2019s steady software business<\/strong>, not on quantum computing. Barclays expects the stock to reach $350 even if the quantum bet never pays off.<\/p>\n Quantum only drives the more optimistic case, where Barclays sees $449<\/strong>, roughly 51% above the prior close<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Bloomberg / Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Software now makes up nearly half of IBM\u2019s revenue <\/strong>and most of its profit, and Barclays expects that share to keep rising.<\/p>\n These are not flashy consumer apps. IBM sells infrastructure software<\/strong> to banks, insurers, and government agencies, clients who rarely rip systems out once they are wired in.<\/p>\n That stickiness anchors the thesis, and Lenschow is not the first to spot it. <\/p>\n Oppenheimer and Evercore analysts flagged the same durable software base earlier this year, Investing.com reported.<\/p>\n Hybrid cloud, built on Red Hat\u2019s OpenShift, ties it together by letting customers blend private and public systems instead of committing to one vendor.<\/p>\n Now, the part that drew the crowd.<\/p>\n Last week, IBM committed more than $10 billion to quantum computing over five years in a regulatory filing, aiming for the first large-scale, fault-tolerant machine by 2029.<\/p>\n Quantum computers use qubits, which hold multiple states at once, to solve problems that would stall today\u2019s fastest supercomputers for years.<\/p>\n Related: History of IBM: Company timeline, milestones & facts<\/strong><\/p>\n The centerpiece is Anderon<\/strong>, a quantum chip foundry in Albany, New York, backed by a proposed $1 billion Commerce Department award and a matching $1 billion from IBM, according to IBM’s newsroom.<\/p>\n Barclays says IBM is copying Nvidia\u2019s ecosystem playbook<\/strong>, building software and developer tools to lock in users early. Appetite is hot, with peer Quantinuum\u2019s IPO heavily oversubscribed last week.<\/p>\n However, it is important to note that IBM\u2019s quantum revenue is years away. For now, quantum computing works as a long-term optionality, not a current earnings driver.<\/p>\n The rebound appears solid, but February\u2019s scare still lingers. <\/p>\n IBM fell more than 20% that month on fears that Anthropic\u2019s Claude Code could automate legacy system work and threaten IBM\u2019s mainframe ecosystem and high-margin consulting services.<\/p>\n Valuation is no longer cheap. <\/p>\n Barclays values IBM near 21 times projected 2027 unlevered free cash flow, leaving little room for stumbles, though broad software optimism is helping the group.<\/p>\n For those who wish to open a stock position, own IBM for its software engine, and treat quantum computing as a free option that could lift the stock toward $449 if the technology delivers. <\/p>\n Having quantum computing as your main reason for buying means you are betting on the best case, not the safer one.<\/p>\n Related: CoreWeave CEO sends blunt message to Nvidia stock investors<\/strong><\/p>\n #Barclays #sets #eyecatching #IBM #stock #price #target<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" International Business Machines (IBM) spent the early part of 2026 as one of the market\u2019s least-loved technology names. A new call from Barclays flipped that script in a flash. On… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[246],"tags":[5175,8029,7020,100,4291,91,1196],"class_list":["post-5538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-popular","tag-barclays","tag-eyecatching","tag-ibm","tag-price","tag-sets","tag-stock","tag-target"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why Barclays just put a $350 price target on IBM stock<\/h2>\n
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![](\"https:\/\/www.thestreet.com\/.image\/NDA6MDAwMDAwMDAzMDYzODg4\/ibmsignage_pl_030626.jpg?profile=rss\")
The software business doing the heavy lifting at IBM<\/h2>\n
What IBM\u2019s first quarter showed<\/h3>\n
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IBM\u2019s quantum option and the Nvidia playbook<\/h2>\n
What still has to go right for IBM stock to hit $350<\/h2>\n
Four things IBM bulls want to see next<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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