IBM Corp. (International Business Machines) Stock , IBM

In 1911, a prospectus was filed for the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, incorporated in New York. Five years later, in 1916, the Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation would make its debut on Wall Street at the New York Stock Exchange: NYSE IBM.

Today’s name, IBM, was first coined in a 1917 ad for CTR which said the conglomerate were “makers of International Business Machines,” which reportedly became its shorthand moniker by 1924.

In the early 1900s, demand for time-cards and accounting machines helped drive IBM stock from $54 to a peak of $216 before the crash that triggered the Great Depression. In 1932, IBM stock price sunk to $9.125, adjusted for subsequent splits.

Under the leadership of Thomas J, Watson Sr. (whose name still lives on in IBM’s quantum computing program), IBM invested heavily in research. This propelled IBM from $9 million in revenue growth in the early 1900s to $892 million when Watson passed away in 1956. His son, Thomas Watson Jr. took over following his death.

IBM stock price responded in kind, steadily growing throughout the 20th century until the 1980’s. Thanks to stock splits, a single share of IBM stock purchased in 1924 would now have multiplied to over 3,000 today and thousands of dollars in dividends.

When computing came into the business scene in the late 20th century, IBM played an integral role in the ecosystem. Eventually, though, powerhouses like Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and other would win out. Instead, CEO Louis Gerstner focused IBM’s efforts on enterprise IT services.

Even at the height of the great recession of 2008, IBM stock price largely survived where many other stocks saw some of their lowest prices in history and even bankruptcy. IBM stock price bottomed out near $80 in December 2008, near similar troughs from 2002 and IBM stock price through much of the 2000’s.

IBM stock price would continue to rise out of the recession with the bull market, with Ginni Rometty taking over as CEO in 2012. IBM stock price reached its all-time record price on March 15, 2013, when the stock hit $215.90 during trading. Revenue growth, better than expected earnings results and financial information as well as product innovations in areas such as cloud computing played a role during this time.

As of late 2017, IBM's quarter of revenue had fallen for 22 straight quarters. IBM reports and expected earnings results have now made Wall Street happy. While shares of IBM are still above their post-peak low of $120, set shortly after the record in 2013, they have yet to climb above that peak in the more than four years since.