IBM Posts Biggest Monthly Drop Since 1992 After Anthropic COBOL AI Claim
IBM stock dropped 25% month-to-date through Feb. 24, its worst monthly decline since December 1992, underperforming the Nasdaq 100 by 23% and plunging 13% in one session. The selloff followed an Anthropic blog post claiming its Claude AI can parse and translate COBOL, threatening IBM’s mainframe consulting revenue.
1. Stock Performance Slide
Through Feb. 24, IBM equity declined 25% month-to-date and lagged the Nasdaq 100 by 23%, marking its steepest monthly loss since December 1992. On Monday, the share price plunged 13% in a single session, the biggest one-day drop since October 2000.
2. Catalyst: Anthropic’s COBOL AI Announcement
The selloff was triggered when Anthropic announced its Claude model can analyze, document and translate COBOL code, a decades-old language underpinning critical banking, insurance and government systems. Investors viewed this as a direct threat to IBM’s long-standing advantage in legacy code modernization.
3. Legacy Consulting Revenue at Risk
IBM’s consulting divisions have generated billions from maintaining and modernizing COBOL-based systems, which power roughly 95% of U.S. ATM transactions and mission-critical infrastructure. If AI tools compress migration timelines from years to quarters, enterprises may bypass traditional IBM services.