We recently compiled a list of the 12 Best Consulting Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds. In this article, we are going to take a look at where International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) stands against the other consulting stocks.

Consulting stocks are shares of publicly traded firms that assist businesses and other organizations by providing advice and expertise.

Despite geopolitical turmoil, economic turbulence, and a flurry of technology breakthroughs affecting business in all sectors in recent years, the consulting industry’s market size has consistently grown. It shows no indications of slowing in 2025.

According to a study report issued by Spherical Insights & Consulting, the global consulting services market was valued at $327.65 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $494.36 billion by 2033. Regionally, North America is anticipated to have the highest share of the global consulting service market during the forecast period. On the other hand, Asia-Pacific is projected to develop at the quickest rate in the global consulting service market during the forecast period.

According to SPI Research’s Professional Services Maturity Benchmark Report, despite economic volatility, management consultants’ revenue rose by 9% in 2023 YoY, driven mainly by AI, technology, and sustainability services. While global professional services growth slowed to 7.8%, management consulting outperformed the trend.

“The move to implement artificial intelligence in every industry was a key factor driving growth,” SPI stated, citing cloud, cybersecurity, robotics, and business process digitization as significant demand areas. Fee increases helped to offset inflation, with the average billable revenue per consultant climbing to $212,000. Acquisitions also had a role, with individual transactions raising revenue by 8% on average.

Positive signals are emerging from the management consulting industry, with several prominent firms expressing confidence in the market and business prospects for the coming year. Henrik Ringgaard Pedersen, head of Nordic at PA Consulting, believes that resilience advisory, AI integration, and private equity involvement will influence the consulting sector in 2025. He underlines the growing demand for resilience consulting, particularly in financial services, with a heavy emphasis on cybersecurity and IT security. He observes a shift in client expectations, which requires consultants to give specialized expertise rather than generic solutions.

Artificial intelligence remains a top priority, but companies must assist clients in setting reasonable expectations. Pedersen stated the following in this regard:

“We’ve moved from hype to reality, and now it’s about carefully considering how and to what extent AI should be used. The industry will prioritize strategic AI adoption over chasing trends.”

Another trend is rising private equity interest in consulting firms, with potential acquisitions on the horizon. Pedersen sees this as a possible opportunity, noting that some businesses are also looking into new structures to stay relevant. “Securing capital from private equity funds or even being acquired is undoubtedly a growth opportunity,” he commented. In 2021, PA Consulting itself changed ownership from the Carlyle Group to Jacobs, showing the growing internationalization of the consulting industry.

Methodology:

We sifted through holdings of consulting services ETFs and online rankings to form an initial list of 20 Consulting stocks. From the resultant dataset, we chose the top 12 stocks most favored by hedge funds, using Insider Monkey’s database of 1,009 hedge funds in Q4 2024 to gauge hedge fund sentiment for stocks. We have used the stock’s Revenue Growth Rate (year-over-year) as a tie-breaker in case two or more stocks have the same number of hedge funds invested.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 60

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM), one of the world’s largest IT services companies and Best Consulting stocks, continues to be the leading provider of mainframes while also expanding its consulting and software businesses by concentrating on digital transformation projects and hybrid cloud infrastructure. The firm has had to reinvent itself over the last few decades as its core mainframe business has confronted shifting industry dynamics. While the company has not always been recognized for being at the forefront of innovation, Morningstar analysts believe it has properly positioned itself to meet the demands of businesses seeking IT infrastructure upgrades, consulting services, and hardware. Its software offerings are used in hybrid cloud-focused initiatives, as well as consulting services to implement and support these projects. These projects can also operate on IBM-assisted hardware.

In 2024, International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)’s revenue rose by 3%, while the business generated $12.7 billion in free cash flow, the highest in years. Software was a big driver, expanding by 9%, while RedHat had double-digit growth. Infrastructure revenues remained consistent, and while consulting revenue fell slightly short of Wall Street expectations, its investments in AI and partnerships are expected to drive future growth. Software currently accounts for 45% of the company’s business, with recurring revenue exceeding $15 billion. Q4 2024 was exceptionally strong, with 11% revenue growth, headed by RedHat’s 17% surge. The company’s generative AI business is also gaining traction, with total contracts worth $5 billion.

On January 28, International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.67 per share, paid on March 10, 2025. This maintains the company’s record of regular dividend payments, which date back to 1916. The company has also increased its dividends for the past 29 years, making it one of the  Best Consulting Stocks.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Overall, IBM ranks 2nd on our list of the Best Consulting Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds. While we acknowledge the potential for IBM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than IBM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stock To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.