IBM
International Business Machines Corporation
IBM has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
ZETA
Zeta Global Holdings Corp.
ZETA has the edge over IBM overall, supported by 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.
ZETA Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy |
ZETA's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
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.
ZETA PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 29x | $37.27 | — |
| Current | 248x | $37.27 | — |
| Cheap | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Fair | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Expensive | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
ZETA 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.
ZETA Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
ZETA 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.
ZETA Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $1.27 | +748% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.15 | +$0.23 |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.01 | +$0.14 |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.10 | +$0.15 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.14 | +$0.24 |
| Q3 2025 | -$0.08 | +$0.61 |
| Q2 2025 | -$0.15 | +$0.72 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.25 | +$0.80 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.38 | +$0.82 |
ZETA 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's revenue has grown year over year for 13 quarters in a row: $17.1B last quarter, up 4.7% from the same quarter a year ago.
| 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 has the edge over ZETA on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
ZETA Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $492.7M | +46% |
| Q2 2026 | $442.8M | +44% |
| Q1 2026 | $396.3M | +50% |
| Q4 2025 | $394.6M | +25% |
| Q3 2025 | $337.2M | +26% |
| Q2 2025 | $308.4M | +35% |
| Q1 2025 | $264.4M | +36% |
| Q4 2024 | $314.7M | +50% |
ZETA has the edge over IBM on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 9.3% | +6.7 points |
| Q2 2026 | 3.8% | +5.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | -4.8% | +1.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 4.5% | +2.3 points |
| Q3 2025 | 2.6% | +7.2 points |
| Q2 2025 | -1.7% | +10 points |
| Q1 2025 | -6.1% | +12 points |
| Q4 2024 | 2.2% | +17 points |
ZETA's operating margin was 9.3% last quarter, up 6.7 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the top of its range since 2020.
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.
ZETA Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $88.3M | +68% |
| Q2 2026 | $64.4M | +62% |
| Q1 2026 | $46.7M | +46% |
| Q4 2025 | $60.9M | +72% |
| Q3 2025 | $52.4M | +78% |
| Q2 2025 | $39.7M | +63% |
| Q1 2025 | $32.1M | +70% |
| Q4 2024 | $35.4M | +66% |
ZETA 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 ZETA on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2019 | — |
ZETA Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +3.1% | +8M shares |
| 1 year | +19% | +42.2M shares |
| 3 years | +67% | +107M shares |
| 5 years | +417% | +213M shares |
| Available history | +712% | +232M shares |
ZETA has 265M diluted shares, up 19% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q1 2021 | — |
| Q4 2020 | — |
| Q3 2020 | — |
| Q2 2020 | — |
| Q1 2020 | — |
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.
ZETA Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.7x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -1.0x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -1.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -1.6x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -3.0x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -4.5x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -14.1x | Net Cash |
ZETA 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).
ZETA Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 70.3 | Overbought |
| Stochastic | 75.8 | Neutral |
ZETA's weekly RSI is 70 (overbought) and its Stochastic is 76 (neutral).
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.
ZETA PE vs Technology 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's trend is mixed: it's above three of its five weekly moving averages, and 15% above its 200-week average.
ZETA Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $32.6 | 15% above |
| 20 week MA | $28.6 | 30% above |
| 50 week MA | $22.6 | 65% above |
| 100 week MA | $19.7 | 89% above |
| 200 week MA | $16.7 | 123% above |
ZETA has the edge over IBM on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
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.
ZETA Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $8.27 | $8.40 | +1.6% |
| 2022 | $8.40 | $8.21 | -2.3% |
| 2023 | $8.21 | $8.82 | +7.4% |
| 2024 | $8.82 | $17.7 | +100% |
| 2025 | $17.7 | $20.7 | +17% |
| 2026 YTD | $20.7 | $37.3 | +80% |
ZETA has the edge over IBM on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.