IBM Corp (NYSE:IBM) stock is 9.7% lower to trade at $227.34 this morning. The software icon reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of $1.91 per share on $15.92 billion in revenue, both of which topped estimates. Despite strong cloud sales, IBM kept its fiscal-year guidance steady and revenue growth was slowed, prompting five price-target cuts, the steepest coming from J.P. Morgan Securities to $270 from $283.
The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (BATS:IGV) is 4.3% lower in response.
IBM is headed for its worst single-session decline since a Feb. 23 gap of 13.2%. The shares are now down 22.5% in 2026, and have ceded their year-over-year breakeven level. Keep an eye on a familiar floor at $220 that could emerge as support today.
Options traders are call skewed, per the stock's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.53 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) that sits higher than 93% of annual readings.
At last look, over 51,000 contracts have already changed hands today, volume that's 11 times the average intraday amount. The weekly 4/24 220-strike put is the most popular, with new positions being sold to open.
Whatever the motive, IBM's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) comes in at 82 out of 100. In other words, the equity has consistently realized higher volatility than its options have priced in over the past 12 months.
