Microsoft (MSFT) / Bill Gates

[winston]

Microsoft Corporation: What to Do With This Earnings Gift (MSFT)

MSFT gets a boost after beating on the top and bottom lines

By Charles Sizemore

Source: Sizemore Capital

http://investorplace.com/2016/01/micros ... q1e3vl96M8

[winston]

Microsoft's secret weapon for growth in the cloud: email

BY SARAH MCBRIDE

Source: Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-micro ... nologyNews

[winston]

Microsoft's secret weapon for growth in the cloud: email

BY SARAH MCBRIDE

Source: Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-micro ... nologyNews

[winston]

Microsoft Corporation Reports a Lot of Good News (MSFT)

MSFT posts a big earnings report, and 2016 looks bright

By Richard Band

Source: Profitable Investing

http://investorplace.com/2016/02/msft-r ... rakBFh96M8

[winston]

Blue-chip software firm Microsoft jumps nearly 30% since late August.

[winston]

Blue Chips With Big Cash: #2, Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)

Cash & Marketable Securities: ~$114 billion

Perhaps the granddaddy of blue chips, Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), has $114 billion in cash and $41 billion in debt. It also produced about $24 billion in free cash flow last year.

And at the moment, it pays about $10 billion in dividends on an annual basis.

Considering the stock yields just 2.7% currently, Microsoft should definitively reward shareholders more. Another $1 per share would cost it $8 billion a year. Arguably, that could hamper R&D, but it would also send the dividend to about 4.7%.

That would lock MSFT in as a dividend stock for retirement investors, ensuring even more long-term demand for the stock.

A new buyback program could be in the cards soon, though. MSFT in 2013 announced a $40 billion repurchase plan that’s set to expire this year.

Source: Investor Place

[winston]

not vested

THIS BORING 'BIG CHEAP TECH' STOCK STILL OUTPERFORMS

Today's chart puts the spotlight on one of the world's safest long-term investments...

Longtime readers know we're fans of the tech industry. Specifically, we like "Big Cheap Tech" stocks. These firms have been around for decades and have established businesses that generate steady sales and thick profit margins.

And many use a large portion of that money to pay dividends and buy back shares. But since they rarely make headlines, investors often pass over them in favor of more "exciting" opportunities.

One of these boring tech companies is software icon Microsoft (MSFT). The company is No. 1 in its industry. Chances are good that if you use a personal computer, you're using Microsoft's Windows operating system and its Office productivity suite (with programs like Word and Excel) every day. According to Forbes, it's the second-most valuable brand in the world, behind consumer-electronics giant Apple.

As you can see below, MSFT shares are in a long-term uptrend. The stock is up nearly 100% over the past three years... and is still trending higher today. Shares are now a chip-shot away from a new 52-week high. Add it to the list of reliable blue-chip businesses that continue to march higher...

Source: Daily Wealth

[winston]

not vested

Microsoft revenue, profit misses estimates

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) reported results that fell short of analysts' expectations, showing its high-profile cloud business cannot quite make up for weakness in its core PC market.

Two categories showed lower operating profits, led by what Microsoft calls its intelligent cloud division, which includes its Azure cloud-services business as well as traditional server software.

Despite revenue at Azure more than doubling, operating profits at the division shrank 14 percent while revenue grew 3 percent.

Continued weakness in the personal computing market hobbled demand for one-time licenses for some of its products, the company said.

"We would have liked to have seen 7 to 9 percent growth," Dan Morgan, a portfolio manager at Synovus Trust who holds Microsoft shares, said of intelligent cloud revenue. "We're trying to validate this story that Microsoft is truly becoming a cloud company, and they're not going to be relying on the desktop computer."

Revenue at the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant fell to $20.53 billion from $21.73 billion.

The company's net income in the third quarter ended March 31 fell to $3.76 billion, or 47 cents per share, from $4.99 billion, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier.

The company blamed a higher than expected tax rate for part of the lower net income.

Adjusted revenue of $22.08 billion was lower than the $22.09 billion analysts had expected, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Excluding one-time items, Microsoft earned 62 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected a profit of 64 cents per share.

Revenue in Microsoft's intelligent cloud business, which includes the Azure cloud infrastructure and services business as well as products such as server software, rose 3.3 percent to $6.1 billion in the quarter.

Chief Executive Satya Nadella has focused on developing the company's cloud business with his "mobile first, cloud first" strategy, since taking over in early 2014.

Windows OEM revenue declined 2 percent in constant currency.

Worldwide PC shipments fell 11.5 percent in the first quarter, according to research firm IDC.

Microsoft says game over for Xbox 360

Source: Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-micro ... y%20Report

[winston]

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Will Soar in the Cloud (One Day)

MSFT cloud growth looks low, but the numbers are better than they appear

By Charles Sizemore

MSFT stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 18, which is a little higher than the market average but still pretty reasonable by the standards of a high-margin tech company.

Source: Sizemore Capital

http://investorplace.com/2016/04/micros ... xy_t_l96M8

[behappyalways]

Microsoft Needs LinkedIn to Conquer the Office
http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/ ... the-office