Activist Stocks: Thoughts On IBM And Its Potential Activist

Thoughts On IBM And Its Potential Activist by Activist Stocks

To start, activism in IBM is unlikely for a few of reasons:

1. The shear size
2. The Buffett overhang
3. Most activist theses are financial engineering, and that’s already something IBM is masterful at

IBM has been a shareholder returns leader, no lie here, with it having one of the top three records of dividends/buybacks over the last decade among tech companies. It’s likely that IBM is only surpassed by Apple.

Now, generally, activists want more shareholder returns, but the case could be made that IBM needs to keep more of that money and funnel it into R&D spending. It’d have to be a longer-term activist, one that can help guide IBM toward a more...