Finance
IBM posts steepest daily drop since 2000 after Anthropic says AI can modernize COBOL
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 24, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 24, 2026
Quick Summary
IBM shares tumbled about 13%—the worst since 2000—after Anthropic said Claude Code can modernize COBOL on IBM mainframes. Fears of AI disruption also hit software and cybersecurity stocks.
IBM Suffers Worst One-Day Fall Since 2000 After Anthropic's COBOL AI Claim
Feb 23 (Reuters) - Shares of International Business Machines recorded their steepest daily drop in more than 25 years on Monday, after AI startup Anthropic said its Claude Code tool could be used to modernize a programming language run on IBM systems.
IBM shares sank 13.2%, their biggest drop since October 18, 2000.
COBOL’s Role in Banking and Government
Market Reaction and Industry Impact
COBOL is a programming language widely used on IBM mainframes across banking, insurance and government systems.
What Anthropic Claims Claude Code Can Do
"Modernizing a COBOL system once required armies of consultants spending years mapping workflows. Tools like Claude Code can automate the exploration and analysis phases that consume most of the effort in COBOL modernization," Anthropic said in a blog post on Monday.
"With AI, teams can modernize their COBOL codebase in quarters instead of years," it added.
AI Jitters Across Software Stocks
Software stocks have been battered in recent months by market fears around the growing capabilities of AI tools, particularly following the launch of plug-ins from Anthropic's large language model Claude, seen as the startup's push to become an application layer.
Cybersecurity Names Under Pressure
Shares of cybersecurity companies including CrowdStrike and Datadog also slumped on Monday, as investors weighed the potential impact of Anthropic's new security tool on the industry.
Reporting and Editing Credits
(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Mexico City; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
Key Takeaways
- •IBM shares fell about 13%, marking the steepest one-day drop since 2000.
- •Anthropic said Claude Code can accelerate modernization of COBOL systems on IBM mainframes.
- •Investors fear faster AI-driven code migration could disrupt legacy services revenue.
- •Software and cybersecurity names, including CrowdStrike and Datadog, also slid.
- •The move underscores market jitters around rapid AI advances across enterprise IT.
Frequently Asked Questions about IBM posts steepest daily drop since 2000 after Anthropic says AI can modernize COBOL
1What is the main topic?
IBM’s stock posted its steepest daily drop since 2000 after Anthropic said its Claude Code tool can help modernize COBOL systems that often run on IBM mainframes.
2Why did IBM shares fall so sharply?
Investors reacted to the risk that AI-powered tools like Claude Code could speed up COBOL modernization, potentially disrupting demand for traditional, labor‑intensive services.
3How did the broader market respond?
Concerns about AI disruption weighed on software and cybersecurity stocks, with names like CrowdStrike and Datadog also declining as investors reassessed competitive threats.
