Ruibao Finance | Updated June 24, 2026

At a White House event on June 23, Donald Trump called IBM Chief Executive Arvind Krishna to his side and brought up a stock sale he now regrets. Selling IBM, he said, was "not a good decision". He then signed two executive orders aimed at advancing US quantum technology, and IBM shares rose more than 4% intraday.

MarketWatch reported that Trump praised IBM and Krishna at the event. The orders call for the US government to advance quantum sensing, quantum networking and post-quantum cryptography, and to draw up a five-year plan for the risk that future quantum computers could break today's encryption systems.

IBM is one of the clearest corporate beneficiaries of that policy push. The US Commerce Department has said it will support domestic quantum-computing companies through a $2 billion programme, including $1 billion for IBM's new Anderon quantum foundry. IBM has also pledged $1 billion for the project and plans to spend $10 billion on quantum research and manufacturing over five years.

IBM market snapshot | Data as of June 23 intraday
$262.65 Nasdaq intraday quote
+4.14% Same-day move
$291 J.P. Morgan target
$10B IBM five-year quantum plan
52-week low $212.34 52-week high $332.46
Black marker: IBM intraday quote. Red marker: J.P. Morgan target. Sources: Nasdaq, Barron's.

The market moved first

Nasdaq quote data showed IBM at $262.65 as of 3:14pm New York time on June 23, up 4.14%, with an intraday range of $255.26 to $267.53. Barron's said the stock had risen about 4.5% at one point, standing out on a weaker day for technology shares.

Trump's remarks helped the mood. The more direct market catalyst came from analysts. J.P. Morgan's Brian Essex upgraded IBM to overweight from neutral and raised his price target to $291, saying the software business was improving and that progress in AI infrastructure or fault-tolerant quantum computing could support a higher valuation.

The move had two strands. Quantum computing put IBM back in the centre of a technology story. Software, Red Hat, hybrid cloud and AI infrastructure remain the businesses supporting current profit and cash flow.

Quantum is still distant

IBM has a clear quantum target: to deliver a fault-tolerant quantum computer before the end of the decade. It is also pushing roadmaps such as Starling, aiming to place quantum processors alongside CPUs and GPUs in future computing systems.

Quantum is not yet a major source of IBM revenue. MarketWatch previously cited Morningstar analysts as saying the business is unlikely to have a material financial impact before the 2030s, unless IBM delivers a large-scale fault-tolerant system. IBM's latest quarterly filings do not break out quantum revenue.

Investors, in other words, are not buying near-term earnings from quantum. They are buying two expectations: that Washington will treat IBM as a core company in the domestic quantum supply chain, and that IBM can eventually turn long-running research into contracts, foundry capacity and technical standards.

Software is still the base

In the short run, Trump, the executive orders and the J.P. Morgan upgrade give IBM a clean catalyst. The stock remains below its 52-week high of $332.46, and the market is willing to reprice the company as an old-line technology name with AI infrastructure and a quantum option attached.

Over the medium term, the stock still depends on software growth and margin improvement. Barron's reported that software accounts for about 45% of IBM's revenue and nearly two-thirds of profit. If that business keeps growing, the quantum story can add a valuation premium rather than carry the stock by itself.

The risks are just as plain. Quantum commercialisation remains far off, and government funding does not equal near-term revenue. If the quantum roadmap slips, or if IBM's software business slows again, the stock could trade back on a more conventional enterprise-software multiple.

IBM is therefore better read as an enterprise-software stock with a quantum option, not as a pure quantum play. Trump's praise gave it visibility, and federal support gave the project political weight. The share price still has to be supported by software, AI and cash flow.

Source note: This article is based on MarketWatch reporting on Trump's remarks, the quantum executive orders and IBM's quantum plans; Barron's reporting on J.P. Morgan's upgrade and IBM's share move; Business Insider reporting on IBM software and quantum investment; and Nasdaq intraday quote data from June 23. References: MarketWatch, Barron's, Business Insider, Nasdaq.