Box Gets Bump From Partnership With IBM

Box Inc (NYSE: BOX) shares jumped Wednesday after the cloud storage company unveiled a partnership with International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM).

Financial terms weren't disclosed, but the companies said they will jointly market Box's cloud content collaboration platform combined with IBM's analytics and social products and IBM's security technologies and the IBM Cloud.

The alliance "opens up an exciting opportunity for both companies to reach new markets," Box Chief Executive Aaron Levie said.

Potential markets include the healthcare, law financial, engineering and academic sectors, the companies said.

IBM will also enable builders and developers to integrate Box's application program interface into business apps and web services.

The deal "will help unlock actionable insights for use across the enterprise," according to Bob Picciano, senior vice president, IBM Analytics.

Box went public in January and has been dogged by slowing revenue growth and narrowing margins.

Investors have questioned Box's ability to compete with the likes of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL).

Box also lists IBM among its top 10 competitors.

But Box beat first quarter expectations earlier this month and boosted its outlook.

Box shares, off about 20 percent year-to-date, traded recently at $18.49, up $0.94.

IBM changed hands at $167.45, down $1.20.