Smart move for IBM

Article Excerpt

IBM, $125.74, is still a buy. The company (New York symbol IBM; Shares outstanding: 903.2 million; Market cap: $109.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.3%) has now transferred $16 billion of its pension obligations (about 40% of its total liabilities) to life insurance companies Prudential Financial and MetLife, which will assume responsibility for payments to its former employees and their beneficiaries. As a result, IBM will record a non-cash $4.4 billion (after-tax) charge against its third quarter earnings. To put that in context, the company earned $2.11 billion, or $2.31 a share, in the second quarter of 2022. However, the deal eliminates the potential for IBM to make future cash contributions to fund those pension obligations. Meanwhiile, the company will likely earn $9.43 a share in 2022, and the stock trades at a low 13.3 times that estimate. The shares yield a high 5.3%. IBM remains a buy. buy. …