Source: Reuters (via feed)
Shares of International Business Machines Corp recorded their steepest daily drop in over 25 years on Monday. The decline followed a statement by AI startup Anthropic. Anthropic said its Claude Code tool could modernize the COBOL programming language. COBOL is widely used on IBM systems.
IBM shares fell sharply amid the news. The drop was the largest since the year 2000. However, IBM has not issued any new statements regarding this announcement. Meanwhile, investors reacted to the potential competition from AI-driven modernization tools like Claude Code.
COBOL remains central to many legacy systems in financial and government sectors. Therefore, changes in how COBOL is maintained could impact firms relying on IBM infrastructure. Despite this, the broader effects of Anthropic’s software on the industry remain to be seen.
IBM’s stock movement highlights market sensitivity towards technological shifts in enterprise software. In addition, the rise of AI tools marks a new phase in software development and legacy system management.
Stock volatility in IBM reflects investor concerns about AI disrupting legacy system services, critical for many business operations.
