Topic: How To Invest

Q: Hi, Pat. I’d like to know if it’s best to buy IBM stock before the Kyndryl spinoff? Alternatively, should I wait until after the spinoff?

Article Excerpt

A: IBM Corp., $141.05, symbol IBM on New York (Shares outstanding: 896.3 million; Market cap: $127.6 billion; www.ibm.com), recently announced more details regarding the spinoff the Managed Infrastructure Services unit of its Global Technology Services operations. That legacy business helps corporate and government clients manage their datacentres. The new firm—called Kyndryl Holdings Inc.—will trade on the New York exchange under the “KD” symbol. By the end of 2021, IBM will hand out 80.1% of its Kyndryl shares to its own investors as a tax-deferred special dividend. It plans to dispose of its remaining shares within 12 months of the spinoff. Kyndryl generated revenue of $19.4 billion in 2020, down 4.4% from $20.3 billion in 2019. It lost money in 2020 due to one-time charges. However, without those items, it probably earned $378 million. The new company will have roughly $1 billion in debt (net of the cash it holds). Kyndryl’s outlook is positive given the managed infrastructure services market is growing by about 7%…