President Donald Trump on Monday praised International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) Chief Executive Arvind Krishna for the company’s advances in semiconductor manufacturing, highlighting its role in strengthening U.S. chip production during remarks at the White House.
Speaking in the Oval Office while signing executive orders, Trump commended Krishna’s leadership and the firm’s investments in advanced fabrication. “What a job you’ve done…We invested in his fab. He’s got a leading fab,” Trump said.
Trump also made a personal aside about his past investment in the stock, saying, “I used to have that stock when it was much much lower. I brilliantly sold it when I became president.”
“That was not a good move,” he said.
Federal Backing Boosts IBM Vision
Trump’s praise for Krishna comes in the wake of a series of strategic moves by the administration to bolster America’s position in the global tech race. On Monday, the President signed executive orders to accelerate quantum computing development, targeting the deployment of a research-capable quantum computer by 2028, while directing federal agencies to adopt quantum-resistant encryption by 2030–2031 to guard against future cyber threats.
The Commerce Department recently moved to award roughly a total of $2 billion to quantum tech companies like D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS), IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ), Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI), Infleqtion, Inc. (NYSE:INFQ) and others under the CHIPS and Science Act, including $1 billion for IBM to establish a quantum foundry in Albany, New York. IBM matched the federal funding with its own $1 billion investment, solidifying its commitment to the initiative.
IBM also announced a $10 billion investment in quantum computing over five years, aiming to build the world’s first large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029.
Earlier this month, an old clip of Trump praising Krishna went viral, amid a nearly 30% surge in IBM’s stock in that week. The federal backing reinforces Wedbush analyst Dan Ives’ bullish view on IBM, which he has described as a “sleeping giant” with significant growth potential.
IBM Price Action: On a year-to-date basis, IBM stock declined by 13.48%, according to Benzinga Pro data. On Monday, the stock rose 1.25% to close at $252.22.
Trump’s Investments Draw Attention
Trump has repeatedly promoted specific companies, and recent ethics filings show he purchased shares in at least two firms before publicly boosting them or implementing favorable policies.
The filing reveals that he acquired stakes in Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) and NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) shortly before publicly praising Dell and before a policy decision that benefited Nvidia’s China sales. While the timing has drawn attention, the White House said that the investments are held in an independently managed trust and that Trump has no involvement in trading decisions.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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