IBM
International Business Machines Corporation
IBM has slightly lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
WDC
Western Digital Corporation
WDC has the edge over IBM overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger fundamentals.
IBM Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Under pressure |
IBM's profitability and cash flow are currently strong, and its revenue is stable, but its balance sheet is under pressure.
WDC Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
WDC's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently strong.
IBM PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 17x | $194 | -21% |
| Forward | 19x | $245 | — |
| Current | 21x | $245 | — |
| Fair | 23x | $274 | +12% |
| Expensive | 46x | $538 | +120% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
IBM's PE is in its cheap range at 21x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 19x next year's earnings.
WDC PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 9.9x | $255 | -18% |
| Forward | 11x | $311 | — |
| Current | 12x | $311 | — |
| Fair | 19x | $487 | +56% |
| Expensive | 63x | $1,618 | +420% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
WDC has the edge over IBM in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
IBM Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect IBM's earnings to grow and its profitability to improve, with its revenue holding steady.
WDC Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
WDC has the edge over IBM on the outlook, with more favorable revenue expectations.
IBM Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $13.06 | +11% |
| Q3 2026 | $11.75 | +40% |
| Q2 2026 | $11.29 | +83% |
| Q1 2026 | $11.33 | +94% |
| Q4 2025 | $11.17 | +74% |
| Q3 2025 | $8.38 | +22% |
| Q2 2025 | $6.18 | -32% |
| Q1 2025 | $5.83 | -34% |
| Q4 2024 | $6.43 | -21% |
IBM earned $11.75 per share over the past year, up 40% from the year before.
WDC Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $28.81 | +12% |
| Q3 2026 | $25.84 | +276% |
| Q2 2026 | $24.28 | +371% |
| Q1 2026 | $16.75 | +268% |
| Q4 2025 | $9.97 | +187% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.87 | +655% |
| Q2 2025 | $5.15 | +$7.76 |
| Q1 2025 | $4.55 | +$9.61 |
| Q4 2024 | $3.47 | +$10.69 |
WDC has the edge over IBM on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
IBM Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $17.1B | +4.7% |
| Q2 2026 | $17.2B | +1.1% |
| Q1 2026 | $15.9B | +9.5% |
| Q4 2025 | $19.7B | +12% |
| Q3 2025 | $16.3B | +9.1% |
| Q2 2025 | $17B | +7.7% |
| Q1 2025 | $14.5B | +0.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $17.6B | +1% |
IBM has the edge over WDC on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 15% | -0.3 points |
| Q2 2026 | 14% | -0.9 points |
| Q1 2026 | 8.7% | +0.8 points |
| Q4 2025 | 21% | +2.2 points |
| Q3 2025 | 15% | +20 points |
| Q2 2025 | 15% | +1.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 8% | +0.5 points |
| Q4 2024 | 19% | -2.8 points |
IBM's operating margin was 15% last quarter, about level with the same quarter a year ago.
WDC Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $4.4B | +55% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.7B | +44% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.3B | +45% |
| Q4 2025 | $3B | -30% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.8B | -31% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.6B | -31% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.3B | -34% |
| Q4 2024 | $4.3B | +41% |
WDC's revenue is growing: $4.4B last quarter, up 55% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 47% | +19 points |
| Q2 2026 | 42% | +16 points |
| Q1 2026 | 36% | +2.5 points |
| Q4 2025 | 30% | +10 points |
| Q3 2025 | 28% | +10 points |
| Q2 2025 | 26% | +20 points |
| Q1 2025 | 33% | +25 points |
| Q4 2024 | 20% | +27 points |
WDC has the edge over IBM on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
IBM Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $3.7B | +31% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.4B | +59% |
| Q1 2026 | $4.9B | +20% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.7B | -9.2% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.8B | +8.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.5B | -19% |
| Q1 2025 | $4.1B | +5% |
| Q4 2024 | $4B | -3.3% |
IBM's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $14.7B over the past year, up 18% from the year before.
WDC Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.4B | +130% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.3B | +90% |
| Q1 2026 | $978M | +158% |
| Q4 2025 | $653M | +128% |
| Q3 2025 | $599M | +$661M |
| Q2 2025 | $675M | +170% |
| Q1 2025 | $379M | +$418M |
| Q4 2024 | $287M | +$529M |
WDC has the edge over IBM on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
IBM Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | +260K shares |
| 1 year | +0.5% | +4.6M shares |
| 3 years | +3.2% | +29.9M shares |
| 5 years | +5.3% | +47.6M shares |
| Available history | +2.1% | +19.6M shares |
IBM has the edge over WDC on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2019 | — |
WDC Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.3% | +1M shares |
| 1 year | +2.1% | +8M shares |
| 3 years | +19% | +61M shares |
| 5 years | +22% | +68M shares |
| Available history | +29% | +86M shares |
WDC has 384M diluted shares, up 2.1% from a year ago, despite $3B in buybacks over the past year.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1B |
| Q2 2026 | $672M |
| Q1 2026 | $752M |
| Q4 2025 | $615M |
| Q3 2025 | $553M |
| Q2 2020 | — |
| Q1 2020 | — |
| Q4 2019 | — |
WDC spent $3B buying back its own shares over the past year.
IBM Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.9x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 3.9x | Elevated |
| Q1 2026 | 4.0x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 3.5x | Elevated |
| Q3 2025 | 4.2x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 5.5x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 5.6x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 4.4x | High |
IBM's net debt is about 3.9 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 4.2 years a year ago.
WDC Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 1.3x | Healthy |
| Q4 2024 | 1.9x | Healthy |
WDC has the edge over IBM on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
IBM Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 50.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 74.8 | Neutral |
IBM's weekly RSI is 50 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 75 (neutral).
WDC Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 41.5 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 11.2 | Oversold |
WDC's weekly RSI is 41 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 11 (oversold).
IBM PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | IBM | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 21x | 28x | 25% below |
| PE % | 31 | 35 | 4 pts below |
IBM is trading at 21x earnings, a 25% discount to the Technology sector's median of 28x.
WDC PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | WDC | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 12x | 28x | 57% below |
| PE % | 28 | 35 | 7 pts below |
WDC has the edge over IBM on valuation relative to its sector.
IBM Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $238.6 | 2.6% above |
| 20 week MA | $239.3 | 2.2% above |
| 50 week MA | $256.6 | 4.6% below |
| 100 week MA | $258.5 | 5.3% below |
| 200 week MA | $212.3 | 15% above |
IBM has the edge over WDC on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
WDC Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $360.8 | 14% below |
| 20 week MA | $438.4 | 29% below |
| 50 week MA | $380.4 | 18% below |
| 100 week MA | $226.8 | 37% above |
| 200 week MA | $133.7 | 133% above |
WDC has pulled back, but its long-term trend is still up: it's below its 8-, 20- and 50-week averages, but 133% above its 200-week average.
IBM Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $129.3 | $119.2 | -7.8% |
| 2021 | $119.2 | $130.6 | +9.6% |
| 2022 | $130.6 | $141.7 | +8.4% |
| 2023 | $141.7 | $163.6 | +15% |
| 2024 | $163.6 | $222.8 | +36% |
| 2025 | $222.8 | $305.1 | +37% |
| 2026 YTD | $305.1 | $244.7 | -20% |
IBM has finished higher in five of the last six years. It's down 20% so far in 2026.
WDC Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $47.0 | $37.7 | -20% |
| 2021 | $37.7 | $46.2 | +23% |
| 2022 | $46.2 | $23.1 | -50% |
| 2023 | $23.1 | $39.6 | +71% |
| 2024 | $39.6 | $45.9 | +16% |
| 2025 | $45.9 | $181.5 | +296% |
| 2026 YTD | $181.5 | $311.2 | +71% |
WDC has the edge over IBM on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.