IBM, which enjoys the sustained support of investing legend Warren E. Buffett , has the odd distinction of being among just a handful of top-tier companies with 18 consecutive quarters of zero revenue growth. However, after three years of negative annual stock returns, IBM sprang to life last year with a nearly 21% increase, surpassing other technology titans such as Amazon, with gains of about 11%; Apple, up 10%, and Facebook, up 9.9%.