IBM shares tumble 6.5% after cloud revenue growth slows

IBM shares dropped 6.5% in premarket trading on Thursday, marking the company’s steepest decline in a year after Q3 results revealed slower growth in its cloud and cognitive software units. Analysts cited competitive pressures from Microsoft Azure and AWS as key contributors to the miss. Despite stronger performance in consulting and infrastructure services, investor sentiment weakened amid concerns over IBM’s AI monetization pace and margin compression. Shares are expected to stabilize post earnings call clarifications.