International Business Machines Corp (IBM  ), will be reporting its fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 24.

Wall Street expects $3.76 in EPS and $17.23 billion in revenues as the company reports after market hours.

IBM is one of the world's largest IT companies, with operations in more than 170 countries. IBM is known for its hardware and software products, including computers, servers, storage systems and networking equipment. Its stock commands over $157 billion in market cap on the U.S. stock exchange. IBM stock is up over 22% over the past year.

Here's what analysts will be focusing on, and how the stock currently maps against Wall Street estimates.

IBM Investment Thesis

AI and Cloud: IBM stands out as a leader in crucial technology sectors, including cloud services, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum computing.

The company has made a strategic shift towards a platform-centric corporate strategy. With a focus on hybrid cloud and AI through Red Hat Open Shift and Watsonx, IBM reoriented its growth vectors, with 75% led by software and consulting, which has a solid synergy. It is further underscored by the multiplier effect created by the Red Hat OpenShift and Watsonx platforms. Together, they add significant value to IBM's offerings.

Partnerships: IBM's approach to partnership rather than direct competition with hyperscalers, is leading to increased sales and faster deal closures.

Despite facing competition from consulting companies such as Accenture PLC (ACN  ) and hyperscalers such as Alphabet Inc (GOOG  ) (GOOGL  ), IBM's advantage lies in its efficient platform-based applications, enabling quicker project delivery and cost savings. IBM's Watsonx, incorporating NLP for developing productivity tools, also forged partnerships with industry leaders such as SAP SE (SAP  ) and Adobe Inc (ADBE  ).

GenAI integration: The integration of Generative AI has paved the way for IBM to focus on enhancing productivity in 2024, providing a substantial market opportunity. The company's diversified strategy and strong positioning in key growth areas make IBM stock poised for growth.

IBM Analysts Focus & Consensus Ratings

Q4 Analysts' Focus: Analysts will be looking forward to any new partnership announcements from IBM along with its fourth-quarter results. In focus would also be IBM's approach toward managing challenges such as competition and revenue decline in the infrastructure business.

Ratings & Consensus Estimates: Consensus analyst ratings on IBM stock stand at Outperform currently with a price target of $144.65. Recent analyst ratings from Stifel, Evercore ISI Group and Jefferies have a price target of $183, $200 and $180, respectively on the stock.

IBM Price Action: IBM stock was trading at $173.59 at the time of publication Tuesday.