International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has yet again set a milestone in chip innovation with the production of a 7nm functional node test chip. The IT giant is working in a public-private partnership that involves New York State, Samsung, GlobalFoundaries, and equity vendors for the production of advanced computer chips. IBM announced an investment of $3 billion for the project last year and its investment has started paying off with this announcement. It is a huge milestone in the development of the next-generation of microchips, which is likely to bring down the current 10nm manufacturing standard to 7nm. The information technology company announced that it has functional chips made out of 7nm transistors.
IBM said, “7nm node has remained out of reach due to a number of fundamental technology barriers.” One of the major problems was the properties of Silicon used for the manufacturing of the chips, and this consortium got around that by replacing silicon with a silicon-germanium alloy, improving electron mobility in the chips. For the record, this is the second time International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has improved chip manufacturing, as the company was able to create a 9nm transistor out of carbon nanotubes in 2012. This development indicates a big success for the technology company, as it will allow IBM to manufacture powerful processors for big data analytics. What is even more appreciable is the fact that the company disposed of the majority of its semiconductor manufacturing in 2014. The technology company sold off its semiconductor unit to GlobalFoundaries and agreed to pay $1.5 billion over the next three years. Richard Doherty, President of Envisioneering, a Seaford consulting firm, said, “This puts IBM in the position of being a gentleman gambler as opposed to being a horse owner.”
The shares of International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) are trading at $163.18, a 1.96% improvement in share price year-to-date. Smart money has a slightly bullish outlook on the stock of the company with 53 hedge fund investors putting holding $15.18 billion of the company’s shares at the end of the first quarter. While ownership declined from 58, the total value of the funds’ holdings increased from $14.50 at the end of 2014. The technology company has attracted investments from the likes of revered value investors Warren Buffett and Prem Watsa.
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Insider activity is an indicator of the insider sentiment towards the company. The insiders at International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) have anything but a bullish sentiment on the stock, with 50 insider sales in 2015. However we should not that sales aren’t necessarily a bearish indicator, though so many certainly doesn’t indicate much bullishness among executives either.
With all of this in mind, we’re going to go over the latest smart money activity regarding International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM).
