IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) has provided information technology (IT) products and services worldwide for 100 years, making it the very definition of a blue-chip stock.
And when the market gets weak and starts to show signs of volatility, it usually is the blue-chip stocks that are the strongest in the pack.
So with the markets going through a bit of a rough patch, let's look for an opportunity to pick up shares of IBM during any pullbacks (**).
Four Reasons to Buy IBM
There are four big reasons why I like IBM right now:
- It's 100 years old, so you know it's stable.
- The company generates $100 billion in sales, which is a level few companies ever reach.
- IBM has an unleveraged balance sheet with $40 billion in gross profits.
- And the stock is relatively strong, as it's currently trading near its 52-week high, even as the greater market declines.
When I think about IBM, I think about stability. The company has never been accused of trying to be sexy from a marketing point of view. Yet, IBM has grown into one of the largest companies on the planet and has built a good reputation for being conservative.
In high growth periods, stocks like IBM fail to keep up – but in uncertain times, they really shine.