IBM shares near record level as company shifts focus to software, AI

One of history’s original big tech firms has been having a quiet renaissance that’s pushed its shares near their first record in more than a decade.

International Business Machines Corp. is up 26 per cent this year, beating tech giants like Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc. The outperformance — after years as one of the more unloved tech names — has come as IBM shifted its focus to software, and with the company poised to benefit from artificial intelligence.