IBM vs. ACN, CTSH, IT, LDOS, BAH, DOX, EPAM, CACI, TDC, and HCKT
Should you be buying International Business Machines stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of International Business Machines include Accenture (ACN), Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH), Gartner (IT), Leidos (LDOS), Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), Amdocs (DOX), EPAM Systems (EPAM), CACI International (CACI), Teradata (TDC), and The Hackett Group (HCKT). These companies are all part of the "it consulting & other services" industry.
International Business Machines vs.
International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) and Accenture (NYSE:ACN) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, community ranking, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.
Accenture received 69 more outperform votes than International Business Machines when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 69.81% of users gave Accenture an outperform vote while only 58.36% of users gave International Business Machines an outperform vote.
International Business Machines has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Accenture has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Accenture has a net margin of 11.41% compared to International Business Machines' net margin of 9.60%. International Business Machines' return on equity of 38.99% beat Accenture's return on equity.
59.0% of International Business Machines shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.1% of Accenture shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of International Business Machines shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Accenture shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
International Business Machines presently has a consensus target price of $250.31, indicating a potential downside of 9.36%. Accenture has a consensus target price of $382.14, indicating a potential upside of 19.13%. Given Accenture's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Accenture is more favorable than International Business Machines.
In the previous week, International Business Machines had 40 more articles in the media than Accenture. MarketBeat recorded 76 mentions for International Business Machines and 36 mentions for Accenture. Accenture's average media sentiment score of 1.38 beat International Business Machines' score of 1.32 indicating that Accenture is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Accenture has higher revenue and earnings than International Business Machines. Accenture is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than International Business Machines, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
International Business Machines pays an annual dividend of $6.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Accenture pays an annual dividend of $5.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. International Business Machines pays out 115.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Accenture pays out 48.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. International Business Machines has increased its dividend for 30 consecutive years and Accenture has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years. International Business Machines is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Summary
Accenture beats International Business Machines on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding {thisCompany.Symbol} and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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This page (NYSE:IBM) was last updated on 6/10/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
