Is IBM One of the Best Companies in America?

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IBM (NYSE: IBM ) remains a household name in technology even after spinning off or selling many of its consumer-facing businesses. In fact, Big Blue took No. 4 in Interbrand’s 2013 listing of Best Global Brands, putting it just behind Apple, Google, and Coca-Cola.

However, despite IBM being an extremely profitable company, the investment community isn’t too hot on the stock: shares trade at just over 12 times trailing 12-month earnings. One widely held explanation for IBM’s submarket multiple is that the company is having a difficult time reigniting revenue growth.

Nevertheless, with a powerful brand and nearly $100 billion in revenue last year, it’s worth asking if IBM is one of America’s best companies.

IBM’s performance as an investment requires perspective
Year to date, IBM shares are up just 2.26%, while the S&P 500 has risen 7.35%. Over the last year, IBM is actually down 0.19% against an S&P that has soared 17.53%.

IBM investors who got in fairly recently probably aren’t all that happy with the performance in the share price. But that doesn’t mean IBM isn’t trying to make its stock as appealing as possible. In October 2013, the company announced that its board of directors had added another $15 billion to its share repurchase program, raising the total authorization at the time to $20.6 billion. The press release also noted the company “expects to request additional share repurchase authorization at the October 2014 board meeting.”

Source: www.fool.com

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