IBM downgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley amid shift away from defense

As previously reported, Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring downgraded IBM to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $148, down from $152. While he is upgrading his IT Hardware industry view to "In-Line" from "Cautious" as the final stage of late cycle transitions to an early cycle rebound, Woodring said he expects demand weakness to persist into the first half. His downgrade of IBM is part of starting to transition away from defensive names, towards more transactional, early cycle beneficiaries, Woodring explains.