International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) recorded its largest single-day share price move since January 29 on Thursday, rising sharply after the Trump administration announced a $2 billion federal initiative to accelerate the development of quantum computing technology across nine US companies, with IBM receiving the single largest allocation of $1 billion to establish what the company is calling the country’s first dedicated quantum chip manufacturing facility.
The announcement, made jointly by the Commerce Department under CHIPS and Science Act funding, confirmed that IBM would build the venture in Albany, New York, with equal contributions from the company and the government.
The facility, referred to by IBM as Anderon, is described as a “pure-play quantum foundry” focused on manufacturing chips for quantum computers at scale, which represents a significant step beyond the research and development activity that has characterised the quantum computing sector until recently. Building an actual manufacturing facility specifically for quantum-grade superconducting wafers gives IBM a structural position in the supply chain of the next computing era that no other company currently holds at this scale.
IBM’s underlying business provided its own momentum well before this announcement. The company’s first quarter 2026 results, released in April, showed revenue of $15.92 billion, up 9% year over year and ahead of the $15.62 billion analyst consensus. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.91 surpassed the $1.81 estimate, representing 19% growth on the equivalent period in 2025. Software and infrastructure segments both demonstrated double-digit growth, and the company maintained its full-year 2026 outlook projecting more than 5% constant-currency revenue growth alongside approximately $1 billion in free cash flow expansion.
The Q1 earnings call had included a notable comment from chief executive Arvind Krishna on the trajectory of the quantum business. “We continue to make progress in quantum and remain on track to deliver the first large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029,” he said. Krishna pointed to a March collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic using IBM quantum hardware to simulate a 300-atom system, describing the work as demonstrating that quantum computers can serve as reliable tools for scientific discovery well before fault-tolerance is fully achieved.
Dan Ives, head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, described quantum computing on Thursday as a crucial element of the artificial intelligence revolution that investors have yet to fully price into the sector. The $2 billion federal commitment across nine companies, of which IBM’s $1 billion is by far the largest allocation, lends government validation to a timeline for quantum utility that the private sector had been cautiously advancing on its own.
IBM had committed in April to invest $150 billion in US manufacturing, research, and development over five years, with more than $30 billion allocated specifically to mainframe and quantum computing production. The Anderon announcement therefore fits within a capital deployment strategy that had already been publicly disclosed, but the government co-investment confirms that the company’s quantum roadmap has reached the level of credibility required to attract federal partnership.
At $252.97 in Thursday trading, IBM stock has gained 12.43% on the session, putting the company’s year-to-date performance in sharply positive territory and suggesting the market is beginning to assign real forward value to the quantum manufacturing story rather than treating it purely as a long-dated science project.