IBM's (IBM  ) stock is strutting like it owns the runway. Up 48% in the past year and 13% just this year, the legacy tech giant is flexing serious momentum and the charts are confirming it.

Trading at $249.12, IBM stock sits comfortably above its five, 20 and 50-day moving averages, with a bullish MACD (moving average convergence/divergence) and RSI (relative strength index) suggesting there's still gas in the tank. Technical traders call it 'strongly bullish.' Bulls call it a "no-brainer."

But IBM isn't just riding the AI wave - it's building the surfboard. At the IBM Think conference in Boston, analysts came away impressed with the company's laser-focused AI and hybrid cloud strategy.

Why Dan Ives Is 'Incrementally More Bullish' On IBM

Wedbush's Dan Ives is going full throttle, reiterating an Outperform rating and setting a $300 price target. He left the event "incrementally more bullish," noting IBM's sprawling AI use cases, including 70+ AI-infused workflows and over $5B already tied to its generative AI business.

The Z17 mainframe is back in the spotlight, Watsonx Orchestrate lets users build AI agents in minutes, and management is even cozying up with Meta (META  ) to potentially integrate into the Llama LLM stack. As Ives puts it, IBM's stack is "built for the enterprise AI revolution."

JPMorgan Says IBM Is Leading By Example

JPMorgan's Brian Essex is more measured, holding a Neutral rating, but even he admits IBM is leading by example. He highlighted IBM's internal AI efforts, which have saved $3.5 billion, automating everything from HR to financial forecasting, and proving it's not just selling AI-it's living it.

With HashiCorp integration unlocking hybrid automation and a bet on small models paying off, IBM seems determined to reinvent enterprise tech one AI agent at a time.

IBM isn't your grandfather's tech stock anymore. It's leaner, smarter and increasingly essential in the AI-powered future of enterprise.

Don't be surprised if $300 is just the next pit stop.