Anthropic strikes back! Claude Code causes IBM to plummet 13%

Yesterday (2/23), IBM dropped 13%, marking its largest single-day decline since October 2000. The market reaction was primarily triggered by artificial intelligence startup Anthropic releasing a programming development tool called Claude Code. The tool claims to effectively automate and assist in modernizing COBOL programming language, sparking concerns about the future prospects of traditional mainframe businesses.

Anthropic Claude Code Targets IBM COBOL

Anthropic’s newly launched Claude Code tool aims to automate the exploration and analysis phases of COBOL system modernization. Most of IBM’s revenue still heavily relies on its mainframe business. These customers operate large servers running applications based on COBOL, a programming language much older than those commonly used in today’s tech industry. COBOL is still widely used in financial and government institutions that depend heavily on IBM mainframes. Investors worry that if AI can significantly reduce the time and consulting costs associated with converting COBOL systems, clients might accelerate migrating their operations to other modern platforms. This technological evolution challenges IBM’s existing market share in the traditional mainframe sector and prompts a reevaluation of its future revenue growth and profit margins.

Software Stocks Fall 27% This Year Amid AI Pressure

IBM’s stock performance reflects the broader software industry’s macro pressures under the AI wave. As companies like Anthropic and OpenAI continue to release code generation features, the market fears that long-term demand for traditional software products may be suppressed. Data shows that, due to AI’s potential disruptive impact, major software ETFs have fallen 27% this year, possibly marking the largest quarterly decline since the 2008 financial crisis. This indicates a reallocation of capital. Investors are cautious about the trend of AI automatically writing software, worried that it could weaken the pricing power of traditional tech companies and cause structural changes to the existing software ecosystem.

(Anthropic launches AI security tool Claude Code Security, causing multiple cybersecurity stocks to plummet)

Corporate Response Strategies and Market Perspectives

Despite market concerns, some analysts and corporate executives offer different viewpoints. Evercore ISI analyst noted that IBM has long provided various system modernization solutions, and most clients with high reliability requirements still choose to maintain their existing mainframe platforms. In fact, IBM introduced its own AI-assisted tools in 2023 to help clients evaluate and convert COBOL to modern languages. IBM management has also stated that its internal AI tools have been widely adopted, demonstrating that traditional tech giants are actively integrating AI into their existing services to maintain industry competitiveness.

This article: Anthropic strikes again! Claude Code triggers a 13% drop in IBM was first published on Chain News ABMedia.