Can a carmaker help a big struggling technology behemoth? That is now the question regarding Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM). News broke after the close of trading on Tuesday that IBM’s board of directors has voted to elect Mark Fields, president and chief executive officer of Ford, to the IBM board of directors.
Two long-time IBM board members are retiring and will not stand for re-election to the board. They are Alain J.P. Belda and William R. Brody.
Mark Fields is 55 years old and he has been at Ford since 1989. More importantly, he was the executive groomed to replace Alan Mulally as the continued efforts for Ford’s turnaround. The official date of Fields joining the board of directors will be effective March 1, 2016. He sits on Ford’s board of directors, where he serves on the board’s finance committee.
As far as why this may or may not matter, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty has been trudging on along the same IBM path for some time. Sadly, it just is not working. The reality is that IBM can’t grow its new developments like cloud and enterprise efforts fast enough to offset the bleeding in its core IT-services businesses. And whatever efforts it seems to make gains in, they are just eaten up by currencies.
Rometty could at some point find herself pressured to either make major changes or to leave. That may still be too soon, but it is a risk. She was quoted in the release:
We are pleased that Mark will be joining the IBM board of directors. Mark led the highly successful transformation of his company in a competitive industry where technology has driven innovation. He is leading Ford into a future where cars are not only vehicles, but increasingly becoming mobile technology platforms. His knowledge and insights in running a complex global business will make a significant contribution to IBM.
IBM shares closed up 0.4% at $122.59 on Tuesday, with a 52-week range of $118.00 to $176.30. The consensus analyst target is closer to $132.00 now, but it keeps drifting lower. Two analysts recently took their price targets (along with underperform ratings) down to $110.00. Those calls were from the esteemed Credit Suisse and from Jefferies. They also likely are making Warren Buffett wish he did not buy into the IBM story when he did.
IBM’s last earnings report was deemed as underwhelming. Big Blue had its role in why the Dow Jones Industrial Average could have an implied downside to 14,961 using the analyst targets for the DJIA stocks.
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