Citi‘s Most Read - Tech & Communications

Research evidence excerpt

Citi‘s Most Read - Tech & Communications

Roundup |

Citi's Most Read - Tech &

Communications 20 Jul 2026 06:12:34 ET

July 13 - July 19

Citi Global Research AC

+44-20-7500-1400Most Read

As boundaries increasingly blur between conventional sectors, and as bottom-up

and top-down analysis converges, Citi Research offers a Super-Sector lens to help

you better understand and take advantage of widespread disruptive trends and

innovation, extending our peer analysis for greater breadth and depth. The Tech &

Communications Super-Sector consists of the Technology, Payments, Processors

& IT Services, Media, and Telecoms sectors. Please find below a collection of our

most impactful recent research in the Tech & Communications Global Super-

Sector – we hope you find it thought-provoking.

Most Read

International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) - Negative Pre-Announce: Supply

Chain Constraints, Frontier AI "Distractions" Impair Results

In a rare negative pre-announce with a stark revs miss 1% YoY (Street/CitiE 5%),

IBM cited large deal slippage with capex reallocation to servers/storage/memory

impairing Z-mainframe performance (infra -7% vs. Street/CitiE -3%/-3%), and

correspondingly cannibalizing software spend (5% YoY segment growth vs.

Street/CitiE 10%/11%) particularly on Transaction Processing. Frontier AI-

influenced cyber advancements late-C1Q were also a culprit of exacerbated

procurement cycles. These businesses representing ~16%/~13% of total revs

explains the optical pain, but where upwards of 80% of aggregate profitability tied

to these divisions also risks near-term EPS/FCF erosion. With Red Hat

accelerating QoQ (positive surprise), directionally we surmise Automation sub-

segment was likely light (we tease-out MSD% vs. HSD expects), with Data