Amphenol vs IBM: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Amphenol reported $23.1B of revenue in FY2025 and $4.3B of net income. IBM reported $67.5B of revenue in FY2025 and $10.6B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Amphenol
Amphenol compounds through acquisition in a fragmented industry. Net sales rose from $12.55 billion in 2023 to $15.22 billion in 2024 and $23.09 billion in 2025, and net income rose from $1.93 billion to $2.42 billion and then $4.27 billion across the same three years. Fiscal 2025 produced a 25.4% GAAP operating margin, $5.4 billion of operating cash flow and $4.4 billion of free cash flow, and the company returned nearly $1.5 billion to shareholders while completing five acquisitions. The pattern is consistent: buy niche connector, cable and sensor makers, leave their management and brands in place, add purchasing scale, and fund the next deal from cash flow and investment grade debt.
IBM
IBM's reported revenue fell from about $80 billion in 2016-2018 to $57.4 billion in 2021, mostly because the Kyndryl spin-off and earlier divestitures removed low-margin services. Since then the slimmer company has grown each year: $60.5 billion in 2022, $61.9 billion in 2023, $62.8 billion in 2024, and $67.5 billion in 2025 (up 7.6%). FY2025 net income from continuing operations was $10.6 billion and free cash flow was $14.7 billion. In Q2 2026, revenue rose 1% to $17.16 billion: software grew 5% to $7.76 billion, consulting was flat at $5.33 billion, and infrastructure fell 7% to $3.84 billion as IBM Z sales lapped the z17 launch. Some large software deals slipped out of the quarter, so IBM cut its 2026 constant-currency revenue growth forecast to 4-5% while keeping its target of about $1 billion more free cash flow than in 2025.
Revenue and profit by year
Amphenol
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $23.1B | $4.3B | 18.5% | +51.7% | Source |
| FY2024 | $15.2B | $2.4B | 15.9% | +21.3% | Source |
| FY2023 | $12.6B | $1.9B | 15.4% | -0.5% | Source |
| FY2022 | $12.6B | $1.9B | 15.1% | +16.1% | Source |
| FY2021 | $10.9B | $1.6B | 14.6% | +26.5% | Source |
| FY2020 | $8.6B | $1.2B | 14.0% | +4.5% | Source |
| FY2019 | $8.2B | $1.2B | 14.0% | +0.3% | Source |
| FY2018 | $8.2B | $1.2B | 14.7% | +17.0% | Source |
| FY2017 | $7B | $650.5M | 9.3% | +11.5% | Source |
| FY2016 | $6.3B | $822.9M | 13.1% | — | Source |
IBM
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $67.5B | $10.6B | 15.7% | +7.6% | Source |
| FY2024 | $62.8B | $6B | 9.6% | +1.4% | Source |
| FY2023 | $61.9B | $7.5B | 12.1% | +2.2% | Source |
| FY2022 | $60.5B | $1.6B | 2.7% | +5.5% | Source |
| FY2021 | $57.4B | $5.7B | 10.0% | +3.9% | Source |
| FY2020 | $55.2B | $5.6B | 10.1% | -4.4% | Source |
| FY2019 | $57.7B | $9.4B | 16.3% | -27.5% | Source |
| FY2018 | $79.6B | $8.7B | 11.0% | +0.6% | Source |
| FY2017 | $79.1B | $5.8B | 7.3% | -1.0% | Source |
| FY2016 | $79.9B | $11.9B | 14.9% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Amphenol
- Communications Solutions~52%
High-speed board-to-board and backplane connectors, fiber optic interconnects, RF and microwave connectors, antennas, and cable assemblies for IT datacom, mobile networks, mobile devices, automotive, and broadband communications. FY2025 revenue of $12.1 billion, up 91% YoY, driven by $4.6 billion in incremental AI datacom sales.
- Harsh Environment Solutions~25%
Ruggedized connectors, cable assemblies, and interconnect systems for defense, commercial aerospace, industrial, and automotive applications that must withstand extreme temperatures, vibration, moisture, and electromagnetic interference. FY2025 revenue of $5.9 billion, up 33% YoY, with significant contributions from the Carlisle Interconnect Technologies acquisition.
- Interconnect and Sensor Systems~22%
Sensor technologies, value-added cable assemblies, and specialized interconnect products for automotive, industrial, IT datacom, and medical applications. FY2025 revenue of $5.2 billion, up 15% YoY, with growth in industrial sensors and the August 2025 acquisition of Rochester Sensors.
IBM
- Software~44%
Red Hat, automation, data and AI, transaction processing, security, and related software services.
- Consulting~31%
Technology consulting, business transformation, hybrid cloud implementation, and AI-enabled workflows.
- Infrastructure~23%
IBM Z, distributed infrastructure, storage, infrastructure software, maintenance, and related services.
- Financing~1%
Client financing and used equipment sales supporting enterprise technology deployments.
Business model and strategy
Amphenol
How it makes money
The business model is high volume, highly specialized B2B component manufacturing. Amphenol sells hundreds of thousands of connector, cable, antenna and sensor variants to thousands of customers, and no single end market dominates: in 2025, data centers and information technology accounted for 36% of sales, industrial 19%, automotive 15%, communications networks 10%, defense 9%, mobile devices 6% and commercial aeros…
Growth strategy
Amphenol's growth strategy has two parts: sell into secular demand and buy specialized suppliers. On the first, it builds high speed copper and optical interconnects for AI clusters, including the Celerity mezzanine connector family rated to 224 Gb/s PAM4 and XtremePass co-packaged copper interconnects aimed at 448G class links, plus high voltage connectors and sensors for electric vehicles, which carry more wiring a…
Competitive advantage
Amphenol's competitive advantage rests on switching costs and the cost of failure. A connector may cost a few cents, but if it fails the aircraft, satellite or server rack around it stops working, so buyers qualify suppliers rather than shop on price.
IBM
How it makes money
IBM makes money from four segments. Software ($29.96 billion in FY2025, about 44% of revenue) includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux and OpenShift, HashiCorp Terraform and Vault, Confluent data streaming (from March 2026), watsonx AI, automation, security, and mainframe transaction-processing software, sold mostly as subscriptions and recurring licenses.
Growth strategy
IBM does not try to beat AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud at selling public cloud capacity. It sells the software layer that runs across all of them and across on-premises data centers.
Competitive advantage
IBM's main advantage is how deeply it is built into the core systems of large regulated organizations. Banks, card networks, insurers, and governments run high-volume transaction processing on IBM Z, and moving those workloads is slow, risky, and expensive.
Questions about Amphenol vs IBM
Which company has higher revenue — Amphenol Corporation or International Business Machines Corporation?
Amphenol Corporation reported $23.1B (FY2025), while International Business Machines Corporation reported $67.5B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, International Business Machines Corporation is the larger business, with Amphenol Corporation reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Amphenol Corporation vs International Business Machines Corporation?
Amphenol Corporation's market capitalisation stands at $208.6B, while International Business Machines Corporation's is $216.3B. International Business Machines Corporation carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Amphenol Corporation.
Which is more financially efficient — Amphenol Corporation or International Business Machines Corporation?
Amphenol Corporation generates $136k / employee in revenue per employee, while International Business Machines Corporation generates $256k / employee. International Business Machines Corporation shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Amphenol Corporation and International Business Machines Corporation make money?
Amphenol Corporation and International Business Machines Corporation generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Amphenol Corporation: The business model is high volume, highly specialized B2B component manufacturing. International Business Machines Corporation: IBM makes money from four segments.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Amphenol Corporation or International Business Machines Corporation?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Amphenol Corporation trades at 9.0x P/S and International Business Machines Corporation at 3.2x P/S. Amphenol Corporation commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to International Business Machines Corporation. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Amphenol Corporation bigger than International Business Machines Corporation?
By last reported revenue, International Business Machines Corporation ($67.5B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Amphenol Corporation ($23.1B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Amphenol vs IBM overview