IBM Shares Top $200 for 1st Time as Tech Stocks Roll

Shares of International Business Machines Corp. closed above $200 for the first time, driven higher as research companies seize leadership in the U.S. stock market as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rally enters its fourth year.

The world’s largest computer-services provider posted a third straight annual gain in 2011 as the S&P 500 stalled afterwards surging 39 percent in 2009 and 2010. The shares have increased 3.8 percent since Feb. 21, when their price-revenues ratio dropped to the lowest level since June versus the valuation for S&P 500 innovation companies, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Virginia "Ginni" Rometty succeeded Sam Palmisano this year, becoming the first female chief executive officer in the company’s 100-year history. She inherits a five-year plan that includes boosting software to half of IBM’s revenues, with a focus on programs that help businesses analyze and project trends, as so then as on cloud computing and emerging markets.

In January, IBM reported revenue of $107 billion for 2011 and revenues of $13.06 a share, and forecast 2012 revenues that exceeded analysts’ estimates.

IBM’s advance came as Apple Inc. sank below a milestone reached last week. The stock dropped 2.2 percent to $533.16 Monday, sending Apple’s market capitalization below $500 billion. The maker of iPhones and iPad tablet computers became only the sixth U.S. company to climb above that threshold, according to data compiled by S&P. The others are Microsoft Corp., General Electric Co., Cisco Systems Inc., Intel Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp., in chronological order.

The world's most valuable company has turned into a bit of a casino stock. Since Apple Inc. on Feb. 29 became only the s . . .