IBM Stock Rebounds Amid Analyst Defense Amidst AI-Powered Legacy Code Translation Fears.

IBM's share price dropped 13.2% on February 23, 2026, wiping out $30 billion in market capitalization, after AI startup Anthropic announced features that could automate the modernization of COBOL, a decades-old programming language still used in the global financial system. Analysts defended the stock, calling the sell-off an overreaction and a buying opportunity, citing the unique capabilities of IBM's Z series mainframe, which cannot be replicated by AI tools hosted on public servers.