Should You Buy, Sell or Hold IBM Stock Before Q2 Earnings?

IBM reports Q2 earnings on July 22 with consensus EPS of $3.02 on $17.66B revenue; 2026 earnings estimates have declined 0.56% to $12.33/share over the past 60 days. IBM has beaten estimates for four consecutive quarters with a 6.15% average surprise, but its current ESP of -0.33% and Zacks Rank #3 suggest no beat is expected this quarter.

Why it matters: Strategic partnerships with OpenAI and Google Cloud, plus new Red Hat AI offerings, are boosting Software and Consulting segments, but IBM faces intense competition from AWS, Azure, and Anthropic's Claude Code, with its stock down 23.4% over the past year versus the industry's 194.7% gain.