Why IBM Still Looks Solid

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, global IT solutions giant International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM  ) has earned a coveted four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at IBM and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

IBM facts

Headquarters (founded)	Armonk, N.Y. (1910)
Market Cap	$233.2 billion
Industry	IT consulting and other services
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$104.5 billion
Management	Chairman/CEO Virginia Rometty CFO Mark Loughridge
Return on Capital (average, past 3 years)	25.8%
Cash/Debt	$11.2 billion / $33.3 billion
Dividend Yield	1.6%
Competitors	Accenture Hewlett-Packard  Microsoft

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 91% of the 4,769 members who have rated IBM believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just yesterday, one of those bulls, Motley Fool Co-Founder David Gardner (TMFSpiffyPop), tapped IBM as a particularly solid selection:

Nobody ever went wrong buying IBM (stock, for the long term). An amazing company by almost any standard I can think of. That said, this won't be hitting my Stock Advisor scorecard anytime soon, I don't think, as there are just too many other companies I can foresee outperforming this one. But it's still darn good enough for one of my green thumbs! Outperform.

If you want market-thumping returns, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Of course, despite a strong four-star rating, IBM may not be your top choice.

We've found another stock we are incredibly excited about -- excited enough to dub it "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." We have compiled a special free report for investors to uncover this stock today. The report is 100% free, but it won't be here forever, so click here to access it now.

Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.