IBM stock is considered "value" for the dividend it pays, so it behaves like a metronome rising prior to quarterly earnings announcements and then settling back down after. As long as management can prop up earnings the stock will remain in a "value" range. Very convenient for a bureaucratic management team that is biding time to retirement. A real catalyst is needed for IBM to break out and perform like a FAANG stock. This should have been Watson, Quantum, or Block. These are big things but have not been marketed well enough to excite, whereas shares of Amazon trade at 250 PE on the whisper of a promise.
The Jonah is management bloat, and the fix is a shakeup. Since management won't budge shareholders should ask to see change. Alert them.