IBM Gains Ground on AI Push and Cloud Deals Climbs to 72nd in Dollar Trading Volume

IBM shares edged higher on Thursday, closing with a 0.58% gain as the stock ranked 72nd in dollar trading volume with $1.28 billion in turnover. The move followed renewed investor focus on the company's enterprise AI strategy and recent infrastructure upgrades across its cloud platforms. Analysts noted that the modest rise reflected cautious optimism ahead of potential earnings catalysts in the coming quarter, though broader market volatility limited upside momentum.

Key developments influencing the stock included a reported expansion of IBM's hybrid cloud partnerships with select European financial institutions. These agreements, aimed at enhancing data sovereignty solutions, were cited as a strategic differentiator in markets prioritizing regulatory compliance. Additionally, internal restructuring efforts focused on streamlining its mainframe operations appeared to stabilize cost expectations for 2025, mitigating concerns over near-term margin pressures.

To run this back-test rigorously I need to pin down a few implementation details: (1) Universe - Which market(s) should we scan each day for the "top-500 by dollar trading volume"? (2) Entry/exit prices - Buy at today’s close and sell at tomorrow’s close? (3) Weighting & rebalancing - Equal-weight the 500 names each day? (4) Transaction-cost assumptions? Once these points are confirmed I can generate the daily trading signals, run the back-test from 2022-01-03 to today, and return the performance statistics and equity curve.