IBM Stock Slumps on AI-Driven COBOL Threat

IBM's stock plummeted over 13% on Monday after Anthropic announced its Claude Code tool can modernize COBOL, a programming language that runs on IBM computers.

The sudden drop was the company's worst single-day crash in over 25 years, with shares falling to $223.35, their sharpest decline since October 2000.

However, Jefferies maintained its 'Buy' rating and $370 price target for IBM, arguing that the company's growth hinges on broader industry demand for cloud, AI, and automation, not just mainframe business.