International Business Machines Corporation develops enterprise technology across software, consulting, hardware, hybrid cloud, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. News from IBM centers on AI platforms and services, including watsonx, IBM Enterprise Advantage, IBM Consulting Advantage, IBM Sovereign Core, watsonx Orchestrate and Red Hat technologies for hybrid and regulated environments.
Recurring updates also cover IBM Consulting client work, industry and cloud collaborations, research milestones in quantum-centric supercomputing, AI-enabled application experiences, and IBM Institute for Business Value studies on enterprise adoption and governance of AI.
IBM (NYSE:IBM) released findings from its 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report showing that one in four malicious breaches were AI-enabled, a 56% increase year over year. These AI-driven incidents, largely deepfake impersonation and AI-enabled malware, cost companies an average of $6 million, about $1 million above the global average breach cost of $4.99 million.
According to IBM, organizations using AI and automation in security operations reduced breach costs by nearly $2 million on average, yet 25% have not adopted these tools. Most AI-driven attacks targeted critical infrastructure sectors (62%), with financial services breaches averaging $6.3 million and energy sector breaches $5.2 million. Over 20% of organizations reported breaches targeting AI models or applications, often due to compromised APIs, plugins, and cloud misconfigurations, while encryption and cryptographic visibility remain limited.
IBM (NYSE: IBM) signed a definitive agreement to acquire HRL Laboratories, a privately held R&D institution jointly owned by Boeing and General Motors, which will continue partnering with IBM on quantum applications. The deal, with undisclosed financial terms, is expected to close by the end of Q3 2026, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals.
According to IBM, HRL’s strengths in silicon‑spin qubits, quantum sensing, advanced materials, and high-speed electronics will complement IBM’s superconducting-qubit roadmap toward large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers. HRL is expected to support IBM’s plans for future systems such as IBM Quantum Starling by 2029, projected to run 100 million quantum operations, and the later Blue Jay platform, projected at 1 billion operations. The acquisition also creates opportunities to collaborate with Anderon, IBM’s planned quantum wafer foundry, including potential development of spin-qubit manufacturing to help industrialize quantum technologies.
IBM (NYSE: IBM) reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $17.2 billion, up 1% year over year, with GAAP net income from continuing operations of $2.2 billion and diluted EPS of $2.27. Gross margin was 57.7%, down 1.0 point, and pre-tax income margin was 14.4%.
Software revenue rose 5% to $7.8 billion, driven by Hybrid Cloud (Red Hat) +11% and Data +19%. Consulting was flat at $5.3 billion, while Infrastructure declined 7% to $3.8 billion, including a 42% drop in IBM Z and a 37% increase in Distributed Infrastructure. Financing revenue grew 12%.
IBM generated Q2 operating cash flow of $2.6 billion (up $0.9 billion) and free cash flow of $2.5 billion (down $0.3 billion). For the first half, free cash flow was $4.8 billion, flat year over year. IBM invested $10.5 billion in acquisitions year to date and ended the quarter with $8.2 billion in cash, restricted cash and marketable securities and total debt of $62.0 billion.
According to IBM, full-year 2026 constant-currency revenue growth is now expected at 4–5%, with currency neutral to growth, and free cash flow is expected to increase by about $1 billion year over year. The board declared a quarterly dividend of $1.69 per share, payable September 10, 2026, to shareholders of record on August 10, 2026.
IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced new offerings for its Power platform, including IBM Power Autonomous Operations, an AI agent that continuously monitors Power systems and can resolve capacity constraints up to 15x faster than manual intervention. It works alongside the recently launched IBM Bob Premium Package for i, an AI-powered development assistant engineered to speed IBM i application modernization and broaden the pool of developers who can work on the platform.
IBM also introduced the entry-level Power S1112, a compact Power11 server designed for on-premises AI inference, delivering up to 2x–3x better core performance than prior models and up to 69% greater energy efficiency than the Power S914. Availability dates span June to September 2026.
IBM (NYSE: IBM) released selected preliminary second-quarter 2026 results, noting final figures may change slightly. Revenue was $17.2 billion, up 1%, with Software revenue up 5%, Consulting flat (up 1% at constant currency) and Infrastructure down 7%. Year-to-date net cash from operating activities was $7.8 billion and free cash flow $4.8 billion. GAAP gross margin was 57.7% (down 100 bps) and operating gross margin 59.4% (down 70 bps). GAAP diluted EPS was $2.27, down 2%, while operating EPS was $2.93, up 5%.
According to IBM, Infrastructure and certain Software areas underperformed expectations due to weaker z17 and associated Transaction Processing demand, client capex shifts to supply-constrained infrastructure, and cybersecurity distractions that delayed large deals. Offsetting strengths included Red Hat revenue growth accelerating to 11%, Distributed Infrastructure up 37% with a backlog of about $500 million, and z17 at nearly 130% program-to-program versus z16. IBM highlighted the new $5 billion Lightwell initiative with over 20,000 engineers focused on open source security, and quantum plans including a letter of intent for the Anderon wafer foundry supported by $1 billion in CHIPS incentives and $1 billion of IBM cash, plus more than $10 billion of quantum investment over five years. IBM will discuss full results on July 22, 2026 at 5 p.m. ET.
IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced major upgrades to its agentic development platform IBM Bob, adding multi-agent capabilities, built-in AI cost and usage analytics, and specialized modernization workflows.
New Bobalytics visibility tools and premium packages for IBM Z, IBM i, and Java modernization target large-scale, enterprise software transformation.
IBM (NYSE: IBM) will hold a quarterly conference call to discuss its second-quarter 2026 financial results on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET.
A live webcast, replay, associated charts, and prepared remarks will be available on IBM's investor website.
IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Red Hat launched Lightwell, an AI-powered remediation platform delivered via Lightwell Network (generally available) and Lightwell Clearinghouse Premier (limited availability). Lightwell provides 6,500+ remediated, digitally signed dependencies, targets enterprise open source risk, and is backed by a $5 billion open source security commitment and 20,000+ engineers.
IBM (NYSE: IBM) introduced new z17 and LinuxONE 5 single frame and rack mount systems to address data center space and cost constraints. These systems support up to 82 cores, 18 TB memory, and offer about 20% more cores and 12% more memory than prior configurations.
New software, including IBM Infrastructure Management for Z and LinuxONE and IBM COBOL Elevate for z/OS, aims to simplify operations and modernization. Post-quantum cryptography is now standard. Hardware is generally available August 12, 2026, with software following in August and September.
IBM (NYSE:IBM), Oak Ridge National Lab, and Cleveland Clinic reported the first-known quantum-computer calculations of nine molecular configurations of FLiBe, a leading fusion blanket material. This quantum-centric supercomputing work targets tritium extraction, a key bottleneck for fusion energy and a core objective of the U.S. DOE Genesis Mission.
The collaboration combines quantum, AI, and classical HPC to model FLiBe’s electronic structure and tritium binding more precisely than many classical-only methods, aiming to help design better materials for future fusion power plants.