IBM Has Raised Its Dividend for 31 Years. Inflation Is Stunwell Successful


Quick Read

  • IBM raised its quarterly dividend a single penny, from $1.68 to $1.69, marking its thirty first consecutive improve however delivering simply $0.04 extra yearly to shareholders.

  • Microsoft grew its quarterly dividend from $0.13 to $0.98 since 2010, making it the stronger decide for buyers in search of actual revenue development over IBM’s 2.83% yield.

  • IBM’s dividend seems protected, with $14.7B in free money circulation comfortably overlaying its $6.3B payout, although capital is flowing towards acquisitions, $62B in debt, and quantum computing bets.

  • Just launched. Our analysts combed your entire inventory market and named the ten greatest shares to purchase proper now, and IBM did not make the reduce. Enter your e-mail to see the names that beat IBM. The report is free. Enter your email and see if any of your stocks made the cut.

The headline is simple to promote. IBM (NYSE:IBM) has paid consecutive quarterly dividends yearly since 1916 and, with the April declaration, notched its thirty first consecutive 12 months of dividend will increase. The actuality a retiree really banks is smaller. Much smaller.

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A Streak That Shrank in Size

The most up-to-date elevate took the quarterly payout from $1.68 to $1.69, declared April 22, 2026. That is a penny 1 / 4, roughly 4 cents on the annualized price. Walk the historical past again and the trajectory is unmistakable:

  • 2015: $1.10 to $1.30 (a 20-cent quarterly elevate)

  • 2013: $0.85 to $0.95

  • 2011: $0.65 to $0.75

  • 2019: $1.57 to $1.62, then annual pennies since

Five straight one-cent bumps ($1.63, $1.64, $1.65, $1.66, $1.67, $1.68, $1.69) is a streak preserved by rounding.

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Peers on the Same Trend, Different Speeds

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) has taken its quarterly from $0.06 in 2011 to $0.42 in 2026, and its newest step was a well-recognized penny ($0.41 to $0.42). Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) pushed its quarterly from $0.91 to $0.98 in September, on a run from $0.13 in 2010. Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) went from $0.40 to $0.50 in early 2025 and has held there by means of October 2026. IBM provides the best yield of the group (2.83%) and the slowest development.

Is the Payout Safe? Yes. Is It Growing? Barely.

Cash protection is ample. IBM produced free money circulation of $14.73B in 2025 towards a dividend payout of $6.255 billion. CFO Jim Kavanaugh advised analysts on the Q2 name, “We returned $3.2 billion to shareholders within the type of dividends by means of the primary half of the 12 months,” and framed money technology this fashion: “Over the final 4 years, we’ve got grown our free money circulation over $6.5 billion on this firm and grown free money circulation margin 700 foundation factors.”

IBM earnings explorer
IBM Earnings Explorer — 24/7 Wall St.

The money is being redirected. IBM absorbed Confluent and HashiCorp, carries $62 billion in debt, and is committing greater than $10 billion to quantum computing over 5 years. CEO Arvind Krishna mentioned IBM is “within the early innings of a structural shift for enterprise” and pointed to a generative AI e-book of enterprise of greater than $12.5 billion.

Verdict

A one-cent quarterly bump doesn’t clear a 3% cost-of-living improve. With shares down 20.71% 12 months so far at $230.17, the total-return case now leans on the AI reinvestment thesis, not dividend development. Treat IBM as a fixed-income substitute with an intact streak. Investors anticipating actual revenue development ought to watch Microsoft.

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