The Software segment offers hybrid cloud platform and software solutions, such as Red Hat, an enterprise open-source solutions; software for business automation, AIOps and management, integration, and application servers; data and artificial intelligence solutions; and security software and services for threat, data and identity. This segment also provides transaction processing software that supports clients’ mission-critical and on-premise workloads in banking, airlines and retail industries.
The Consulting segment offers business transformation services, including strategy, business process design and operations, data and analytics, and system integration services; technology consulting services; and application and cloud platform services.
The Infrastructure segment provides on-premises and cloud-based server and storage solutions for its clients’ mission-critical and regulated workloads; and support services and solutions for hybrid cloud infrastructure, as well as remanufacturing and remarketing services for used equipment.
The Financing segment offers lease, installment payment, loan financing and short-term working capital financing services.
For the second quarter, IBM posted revenue of $15.5 billion, solidly higher than a year ago and better than the Wall Street consensus estimate. Profits also exceeded the consensus forecast.
IBM stock comes with a 5.04% dividend. BofA Securities has a Buy rating, and its $165 price target compares with a $143.68 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing print of $129.18.
Seagate Technology
This disk drive giant is hitting on all cylinders and looks reasonable at current trading levels. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: STX) provides data storage technology and solutions in Singapore, the United States, the Netherlands and elsewhere.
The company offers hard disk and solid-state drives, including serial advanced technology attachment, serial attached SCSI and non-volatile memory express products; solid-state hybrid drives; and storage subsystems. Its products are used in enterprise servers and storage systems and edge compute and non-compute applications.
Seagate also provides an enterprise data solutions portfolio, comprising storage subsystems and mass capacity optimized private cloud storage solutions for enterprises, cloud service providers and scale-out storage servers and original equipment manufacturers. In addition, it offers external storage solutions under the Seagate Backup Plus and Expansion product lines, as well as under the LaCie and Maxtor brands in capacities up to 16 terabytes.
Shareholders enjoy a 3.47% dividend. The BofA Securities price objective of $120 would be a 52-week high. Seagate Technology stock closed on Wednesday at $82.07.
To be clear, the selling may very well not be over. It makes sense to scale buy these five top stocks slowly, especially in front of second-quarter earnings. Buying partial positions now will get investors in the game but leave them the ability to add more shares if the selling resumes, which it likely will. None of the current issues causing the selling are going away anytime soon, but by later this year, it is very possible that they may have calmed down some. In the meantime, the solid dividends will pay investors to wait.
Originally posted at 24/7 Wall St.
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