# How International Business Machines (IBM) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/ibm
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on IBM alone. It places IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) against 19 popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where IBM stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: IBM's full trading record, from October 1986 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** The slide is IBM's own: it is 26.0% below its high, against 1.3% for the S&P 500. IBM has gone against the market, falling 3.3% over the past 6 months while the S&P 500 rose 9.1%.
- **Stock or market?:** More than an industry move: IBM rose 14.4% over the past 3 months, against 6.3% for the IT services ETF VGT (Vanguard Information Technology ETF). The S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Its IT services peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: ACN (Accenture) rose 66.5%, while INFY (Infosys) rose 11.9%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** Over the past year, IBM fell 12.5% while the S&P 500 rose 15.8%. Even so, IBM finished ahead of the S&P 500 in both 2024 and 2025.
- **Long term:** IBM turned $10,000 into $25,100 over the past decade, against $42,100 in the S&P 500. That said, the past 5 years have been the better stretch: IBM rose 116% against 81.7% for the S&P 500, after trailing over the decade.
- **In a crash:** In the 2022 bear market, IBM held up better than ACN (Accenture), HPE and INFY; only SAIC (Science Applications International) fell less.
- **Diversification:** IBM's link to the S&P 500 has loosened: a correlation of 0.36 over the past 5 years, down from 0.76 in the 5 years before. Even so, over 10 years, IBM's beta versus the S&P 500 was 0.95: in the S&P 500's rising months it gained 89% as much as the index, and in falling months it lost 1.2 times as much.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** DELL (Dell Technologies), AMZN (Amazon.com) and HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) were ahead of IBM in most short and long periods.
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** CTAS (Cintas, business services) matched IBM's return over the past 5 years (16.5% a year against 16.6%) with 24% less volatility.
  - **Whole market:** 110 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than IBM with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them AAPL (Apple), WMT (Walmart) and XOM (Exxonmobil).

## How much would $10,000 in IBM have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in IBM over the past 29 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of IBM over the same span and IBM's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in IBM at the end of September 1997 would have grown to $86,041 by September 2026, less than the $132,907 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the six other investments on the chart ended ahead of IBM, and AMZN finished highest, at $11,484,924.

## IBM at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- IBM is still 26.0% below its all-time high.
- IBM's deepest decline since it began trading in 1986 was 69.3%, from August 1987 to August 1993. It took about three years from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 29 full calendar years, IBM's best was 1998, when it returned 77.5%, and its worst was 2002, when it lost 35.4%. It lost money in ten of those years.

- Type: Stock, Technology (Information Technology Services)
- Trading since: October 17, 1986
- Market value: $228B
- Volatility (5 years): 30.5%; Sharpe ratio: 0.66
- Worst decline ever: −69.3%, from August 20, 1987 to August 16, 1993; back at its high by October 11, 1996

| Period | IBM total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +4.3% |
| 3 months | +14.4% |
| 6 months | −3.3% |
| year to date | −15.3% |
| 1 year | −12.5% |
| 3 years | +93.5% |
| 5 years | +116% |
| 10 years | +151% |

## IBM against the whole market

Where IBM ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does IBM rank among all stocks?

This section ranks IBM on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- IBM's worst decline of the past 10 years ranks in the top 8% of the 2,187 stocks worth at least $300 million, where the top fell the least.

| Measure | IBM | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | −12.5% | 2,415 of 3,287 (top 74%) |
| 3-year return | +93.5% | 974 of 3,017 (top 33%) |
| 5-year return | +116% | 600 of 2,893 (top 21%) |
| 10-year return | +151% | 1,079 of 2,202 (top 50%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 30.5% | 776 of 2,893 (top 27%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.66 | 538 of 2,893 (top 19%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −41.1% | 179 of 2,187 (top 9%) |

### What has beaten IBM on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- 72 stocks and 38 ETFs worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than IBM over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is 3% of the 3,633 screened.
- Among those with at least half IBM's swings, CAH has the best return for its risk: 42.1% a year at 24.7% volatility, 19% less than IBM's 30.5%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.55 against 0.66 for IBM.

### Is there a better investment than IBM?

The table below lists investments that beat IBM over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among IBM's popular alternatives, DELL, AMZN and HPE were ahead of IBM in most short and long periods.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, CTAS (business services) matched IBM's return over the past 5 years (16.5% a year against 16.6%) with 24% less volatility.
- Across the whole market, 110 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than IBM with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them AAPL, WMT and XOM.

The 15 strongest of 110 investments that beat IBM over the past 5 years, out of 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with IBM | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| IBM: International Business Machines Corporation (this page) |  | +16.6% | 30.5% | 0.66 | −41.1% | +151% |  |  |
| [AMGN](https://easycompare.io/research/amgn): Amgen Inc. | Biotechnology | +19.6% | 24.9% | 0.85 | −24.9% | +266% | 0.15 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [PGR](https://easycompare.io/research/pgr): The Progressive Corporation | Property & Casualty Insurance | +21.3% | 25.6% | 0.89 | −30.3% | +816% | 0.16 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [GILD](https://easycompare.io/research/gild): Gilead Sciences, Inc. | Biotechnology | +22.8% | 24.9% | 0.95 | −30.5% | +200% | 0.36 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [VGT](https://easycompare.io/research/vgt): Vanguard Information Technology ETF | Technology Equity | +18.4% | 26.0% | 0.78 | −35.1% | +779% | 0.38 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [COR](https://easycompare.io/research/cor): Cencora, Inc. | Health Care Distribution | +24.2% | 22.8% | 1.07 | −32.4% | +406% | 0.22 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | US Momentum Equity | +18.7% | 20.8% | 0.93 | −30.9% | +499% | 0.41 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [CAH](https://easycompare.io/research/cah): Cardinal Health, Inc. | Health Care Distribution | +42.1% | 24.7% | 1.55 | −46.1% | +349% | 0.35 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| NHC: National HealthCare Corporation | Medical - Care Facilities | +32.0% | 28.5% | 1.12 | −35.3% | +394% | 0.14 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [AAPL](https://easycompare.io/research/aapl): Apple Inc. | Computer Hardware | +18.5% | 28.0% | 0.75 | −38.5% | +1,168% | 0.18 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [MPLX](https://easycompare.io/research/mplx): MPLX Lp | Oil & Gas Midstream | +23.5% | 18.8% | 1.22 | −75.2% | +350% | 0.13 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [XOM](https://easycompare.io/research/xom): Exxonmobil Holdings Corporation | Integrated Oil & Gas | +27.1% | 26.5% | 1.04 | −61.0% | +214% | -0.06 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [ABBV](https://easycompare.io/research/abbv): AbbVie Inc. | Pharmaceuticals | +26.1% | 23.4% | 1.11 | −45.1% | +603% | 0.19 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| DBJP: Xtrackers MSCI Japan Hedged Equity ETF | International | +20.9% | 19.2% | 1.09 | −31.3% | +348% | 0.23 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [HSBC](https://easycompare.io/research/hsbc): HSBC Holdings plc | Banks | +33.1% | 25.9% | 1.24 | −62.3% | +319% | -0.03 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | International Equity | +26.6% | 19.1% | 1.34 | −39.1% | +428% | 0.14 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |

## IBM against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against IBM, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do IBM's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- None of the 19 popular alternatives earned more than IBM over the past 5 years with smaller price swings, so every higher return on the map came with a bumpier ride.
- Ten of the 19 popular alternatives earned less than IBM over the past 5 years while swinging more, the weaker corner of the map.
- Over the past 5 years, IBM returned 16.6% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (30.5% against 17.1%).

### Has IBM consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares IBM with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- Three of the 19 popular alternatives, DELL, HPE and AMZN, outperformed IBM in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes.
- DELL and HPE outperformed IBM in every long-term period and in all but one short-term period, the most consistent record in the group.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of IBM | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| IBM: International Business Machines Corporation (this page) | −12.5% | +93.5% | +116% | +151% |  |  | 0.66 |
| [DELL](https://easycompare.io/research/dell): Dell Technologies Inc. | +217% | +636% | +800% | +3,701% | 4/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 1.08 |
| [HPE](https://easycompare.io/research/hpe): Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company | +150% | +296% | +315% | +483% | 4/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 0.89 |
| [AMZN](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn): Amazon.com, Inc. | +21.3% | +110% | +53.8% | +548% | 3/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.42 |
| [MSFT](https://easycompare.io/research/msft): Microsoft Corporation | +3.8% | +66.6% | +80.3% | +946% | 5/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.56 |
| CACI: CACI International Inc | +15.4% | +85.8% | +115% | +499% | 4/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.66 |
| [SAP](https://easycompare.io/research/sap): SAP SE | −16.6% | +81.3% | +72.6% | +205% | 4/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.52 |
| BAH: Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation | −23.5% | −34.5% | +2.0% | +197% | 2/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.18 |
| LDOS: Leidos Holdings, Inc. | −32.2% | +42.4% | +35.6% | +253% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.36 |
| [ORCL](https://easycompare.io/research/orcl): Oracle Corporation | −52.1% | +33.3% | +45.1% | +300% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.38 |
| [ACN](https://easycompare.io/research/acn): Accenture plc | +2.2% | −13.6% | −23.6% | +146% | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.00 |
| G: Genpact Limited | −1.0% | +15.5% | −18.1% | +85.4% | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.02 |
| CTSH: Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation | +4.5% | +9.5% | −6.2% | +56.3% | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.11 |
| DXC: DXC Technology Company | +12.6% | −28.0% | −58.0% | −67.7% | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.13 |
| SAIC: Science Applications International Corporation | +37.6% | +27.6% | +60.1% | +135% | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.46 |
| EPAM: EPAM Systems, Inc. | −9.9% | −41.5% | −79.2% | +103% | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.26 |
| GLOB: Globant S.A. | −28.3% | −76.9% | −86.5% | −5.9% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.48 |
| [INFY](https://easycompare.io/research/infy): Infosys Limited | −22.4% | −18.0% | −39.8% | +110% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.19 |
| WIT: Wipro Limited | −21.5% | −6.4% | −55.1% | +19.9% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.32 |
| KD: Kyndryl Holdings, Inc. | −50.3% | −5.1% | −65.9% | — | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.05 |

### How did IBM do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 1997, along with where IBM ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, IBM finished in the top quarter in six of 29 years and in the bottom quarter in ten. In 2025, it ranked 1 of 20.
- IBM finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 12 of its 29 full calendar years, and ahead of it in each of the last two.
- Among its popular alternatives, ACN came out ahead of IBM most often, in 16 of the 24 years both traded.

| Year | IBM | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +38.2% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +39.3% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +21.9% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | +10.6% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +16.6% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | −1.2% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +23.6% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −22.6% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | −4.9% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +25.2% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How IBM has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were IBM's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all four of IBM's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: IBM fell 44.2% from March 2013 to March 2020, while the S&P 500 rose 64.2%.
- The slowest recovery came after IBM fell 59.3% from July 1999 to October 2002; it did not regain that peak until May 2008, six years later.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −69.3% | August 20, 1987 | August 16, 1993 | October 11, 1996 | — |  |
| −59.3% | July 13, 1999 | October 9, 2002 | May 14, 2008 | −41.7% | dot-com bust |
| −44.3% | July 24, 2008 | November 20, 2008 | October 12, 2009 | −39.5% | 2008 financial crisis |
| −44.3% | March 14, 2013 | March 23, 2020 | November 11, 2022 | +64.2% | 2015 China and oil sell-off |
| −37.5% | June 2, 2026 | July 22, 2026 | not yet | −1.4% |  |

### How did IBM do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far IBM, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- Among its popular alternatives, CACI held up best, falling less than IBM in six of the ten crashes they both traded through.
- IBM fell less than the S&P 500 in four of the ten crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the 2008 financial crisis, when IBM fell 44.3% and the S&P 500 fell 55.2%.

| Crash | Dates | IBM fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | −58.3% | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −44.3% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | −1.5% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −14.6% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −23.3% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −6.3% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −29.1% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −37.3% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −16.7% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −2.0% | −3.4% |

### How closely does IBM move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- Ten of the 18 popular alternatives had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than IBM's 0.73, led by DELL, CACI and MSFT.
- DELL took just 43% of the S&P 500's losses, against 121% for IBM, while still keeping 154% of its gains.
- Over the past 10 years, IBM captured 89% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 121% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 0.95. Its share of the market's losses was larger than its share of the gains.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| IBM: International Business Machines Corporation (this page) | 89.0% | 121% | 0.95 |
| [DELL](https://easycompare.io/research/dell): Dell Technologies Inc. | 154% | 43.0% | 1.13 |
| [HPE](https://easycompare.io/research/hpe): Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company | 116% | 102% | 1.31 |
| [AMZN](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn): Amazon.com, Inc. | 134% | 139% | 1.31 |
| [MSFT](https://easycompare.io/research/msft): Microsoft Corporation | 127% | 91.0% | 0.96 |
| CACI: CACI International Inc | 94.0% | 62.0% | 0.79 |
| [SAP](https://easycompare.io/research/sap): SAP SE | 112% | 152% | 1.10 |
| BAH: Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation | 65.0% | 63.0% | 0.54 |
| LDOS: Leidos Holdings, Inc. | 78.0% | 73.0% | 0.73 |
| [ORCL](https://easycompare.io/research/orcl): Oracle Corporation | 131% | 159% | 1.30 |
| [ACN](https://easycompare.io/research/acn): Accenture plc | 117% | 186% | 1.12 |
| G: Genpact Limited | 90.0% | 146% | 0.99 |
| CTSH: Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation | 89.0% | 152% | 0.99 |
| DXC: DXC Technology Company | 99.0% | 276% | 1.59 |
| SAIC: Science Applications International Corporation | 44.0% | 36.0% | 0.59 |
| EPAM: EPAM Systems, Inc. | 156% | 263% | 1.41 |
| GLOB: Globant S.A. | 91.0% | 188% | 1.16 |
| [INFY](https://easycompare.io/research/infy): Infosys Limited | 85.0% | 126% | 0.90 |
| WIT: Wipro Limited | 62.0% | 122% | 0.82 |

### What diversifies IBM?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in IBM into LVHI would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 19% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+14.9% for IBM alone, +16.3% for the mix).
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and EMLP have moved largely independently of IBM over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.14 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.
- MCK made money in six of the ten calendar years in which IBM lost money.

| Investment | Correlation with IBM | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in IBM's 10 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | 0.05 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 1 of 10 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.14 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 5 of 10 |
| EMLP: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund | 0.13 | +101% | 14.5% | 1.04 | 3 of 10 |
| HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF | 0.21 | +83.3% | 13.0% | 1.00 | 3 of 10 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.31 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 5 of 10 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.25 | +85.0% | 13.8% | 0.96 | 5 of 10 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.10 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 4 of 10 |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | 0.41 | +136% | 20.8% | 0.93 | 2 of 10 |

## Common questions

### What was IBM's worst drawdown?

IBM's deepest decline since it began trading in 1986 was 69.3%, from August 1987 to August 1993. It took about three years from the low to climb back to its old high.

### What were IBM's best and worst years?

Over 29 full calendar years, IBM's best year was 1998, when it returned 77.5%. Its worst was 2002, with a return of -35.4%.

### Is there a better investment than IBM?

Among IBM's popular alternatives, DELL, AMZN and HPE were ahead of IBM in most short and long periods. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, CTAS (business services) matched IBM's return over the past 5 years (16.5% a year against 16.6%) with 24% less volatility.

### Is IBM more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. IBM's volatility over the past 5 years was 30.5%, 1.8 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, IBM's return lands within 30.5% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is IBM's Sharpe ratio?

IBM's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.66, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so IBM earned less for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is IBM with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, IBM's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.36 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They are only loosely linked, which makes it a real diversifier next to an index fund. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against IBM instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a IBM holding.

### What are the best alternatives to IBM?

Of the 19 popular alternatives we compared, three outperformed IBM in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: DELL, HPE and AMZN.

### Did IBM outperform the S&P 500?

IBM finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 12 of 29 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +38.2%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did IBM do in stock market crashes?

IBM fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in four of the ten major crashes it has traded through, and further in four. The clearest case was the 2008 financial crisis, when IBM fell 44.3% and the S&P 500 fell 55.2%.

### What diversifies IBM?

These had a low correlation with IBM over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation 0.05), DXJ (correlation 0.14) and EMLP (correlation 0.13); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.35), CLS (correlation 0.25) and FIX (correlation 0.05). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

- [Dell Technologies (DELL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/dell)
- [Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/hpe)
- [Amazon.com (AMZN) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn)
- [Microsoft (MSFT) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/msft)
- [SAP Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/sap)
- [Oracle (ORCL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/orcl)
- [Accenture (ACN) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/acn)
- [Infosys (INFY) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/infy)
- [Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/schd)
- [NVIDIA (NVDA) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda)
- [Apple (AAPL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/aapl)
- [Alphabet (GOOG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/goog)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/ibm
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against IBM live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=IBM&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research