Microsoft (MSFT) / Bill Gates

[iam802]

Short snippet from an article that I found amusing:


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-0 ... ision.html


Note:
The article objective is to report on new engineering mgnt in MSFT. But the snippets on Ballmer's bonus is just too difficult to miss.

The management shakeup reflects Ballmer’s attempt to re- exert his influence and appoint leaders that can better keep pace with the competition, people familiar with his thinking said this week.

Microsoft’s board declined to give Ballmer his maximum bonus last year, saying the company had missed some opportunities in mobile technology, according to a September regulatory filing.

Hidden Content:

He received 100 percent of his target bonus, instead of the upper limit of 200 percent.

[winston]

ANOTHER GREAT INCOME OPPORTUNITY

For the contrarians out there, the "big cheap tech" idea is getting attractive again…

Back in September, we sounded a loud alarm that dominant tech companies like Intel and Microsoft were sporting super-cheap valuations, held enormous cash piles, and were carving out tradable bottoms.

We pointed out how these companies aren't in their hypergrowth stages anymore, so many growth-obsessed investors have dumped the stocks.

Soon after our write-up, these stocks rallied along with the market. One of value guru Dan Ferris' favorite cheap stocks, Microsoft, enjoyed a rally off its floor in the $24 area to $28.50.

But the market selloff of the past few weeks has taken Microsoft and other "big cheap tech" players back near the levels of seven months ago… where big money institutions find value, buy shares, and support prices.

For the "option minded" folks out there, this is another opportunity to generate income with covered calls or selling puts. Make sure to read this archived essay from our sister site Growth Stock Wire for more on this opportunity.


www.dailywealth.com

[iam802]

Zune is 'finally' dead.

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http://www.zune.net/en-US/support/zunep ... layers.htm

...
We recently announced that, going forward, Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy, and that we will no longer be producing Zune players. So what does this mean for our current Zune users? Absolutely nothing. Your device will continue to work with Zune services just as it does today. And we will continue to honor the warranties of all devices for both current owners and those who buy our very last devices. Customer service has been, and will remain a top priority for us.

[winston]

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT_) inched 0.4% higher to $27.16 after the software maker largely met profit expectations on Thursday, reporting earnings of $5.74 billion for the fiscal first quarter, up from $5.4 billion a year ago.

[iam802]

Microsoft shareholders grumble at brief annual meet

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/ ... 9S20111115

(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp shareholders filed out of the software giant's annual meeting grumbling that they did not get to ask more questions in their once-a-year opportunity to quiz Chairman Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer.

The gathering broke up with only a smattering of applause from 450 or so in attendance, while a handful of shareholders angrily shouted for more time to ask questions, after a strictly enforced 15 minutes.

"Why can't they answer questions for another hour?" said Bill Parker, a shareholder from Cashmere, Washington, a two-hour drive over the Cascade mountains.

"We drove through the snow to get here. He (Ballmer) is talking about tablets and phones as if it were a new thing. Apple's had these things for years. My granddaughters don't even know what Microsoft does. They should treat the owners better than they do."

Despite posting record profit of $23.1 billion last fiscal year, many shareholders are concerned about Microsoft's static share price, which has been stuck in the $20 to $30 range for more than a decade, and worry the company is losing ground to tech rivals Apple Inc and Google Inc.

At the meeting, Ballmer rejected a shareholder suggestion to break up the company, and laid out his often-stated plan to put Windows at the forefront of the company's push into new forms of computing such as tablets. He also highlighted the Xbox video game console as a game-changing consumer device.

In his only utterance, Gates defended the build-up of cash on Microsoft's balance sheet, now totaling more than $57 billion.

"You want to retain enough (cash) so the company has the strength to be able to take big risks even in the face of some economic uncertainty," said Gates. "I've always been a big believer in having a very strong balance sheet for the company."

He added that Microsoft's opportunity to be the best software company is "stronger today than it has ever been," and pointed to "upside" in the phone and tablet business.

ONCE A YEAR

Microsoft's annual meeting is the only time shareholders get to express their concerns directly to Gates, who retired as a day-to-day employee in 2008, and Ballmer.

"I don't know why guys who know their business as well as these guys do seem so hesitant to have a robust interaction with the owners of the company," said Larry Dohrs, from Seattle-based Newground Social Investment, a money manager that targets socially responsible and environmentally friendly investments for clients.

"Give that extra half hour and show us the self-confidence that other management teams show at their annual meeting," said Dohrs.

Microsoft is not alone among big companies in holding brief shareholder meetings, but competitors like Google and Apple typically allow shareholders half an hour or more to question executives.

Dohrs compared the meeting unfavorably to that of retailer Costco, from nearby Issaquah, Washington, which also holds its annual meeting at Bellevue's Meydenbauer Convention Center. Costco CEO James Sinegal likes to answer shareholder questions for many hours.

"In this same room, with a larger crowd, Jim Sinegal stands up there and will answer questions until every last question is responded to," said Dohrs. "From an investor point of view, what could give you a higher level of confidence in the management team than that ability to stand up and answer everything? This was close to the opposite."

Thushara Athukorala, a shareholder from Monterey, California, also bemoaned the lack of time allotted to questions.

"We should have at least two hours. Most shareholders probably have good things to say. We just want to feel good about it," said Athukorala.

"Fourteen minutes and 32 seconds and rush out?" he asked rhetorically, gesturing at the digital clock Microsoft erected by the corner of the stage.

He compared the meeting to Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger's legendary all-day Q&A sessions at annual meetings for Berkshire Hathaway Inc, whose board Bill Gates sits on.

"Those two guys -- both over 80 -- answer for six hours, non-stop. They don't even take a (bathroom) break," said Athukorala. "No matter what the question is, they had an answer."

Despite the complaints, none of the grumbling shareholders are considering selling their Microsoft stakes.

"I'm a loyal Microsoft shareholder," said Athukorala, "I wouldn't be buying my first house if I didn't have Microsoft shares."

Parker, who says he has owned Microsoft shares from "day one" -- Microsoft went public in 1986 -- is not yet ready to sell his shares, which are in a college fund for his grandchildren.

"They keep sending me a dividend check," he said.

[iam802]

Microsoft Plans Reorganization, Job Cuts

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-1 ... tions.html

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is making plans for a companywide restructuring of its marketing operations, a move that may include hundreds of job cuts, according to people familiar with the matter.

The plans haven’t been settled and could change, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the review isn’t public. Job cuts are unlikely to involve thousands of employees, the people said. Initial steps could be announced within the next 30 days, according to one person.

The changes would eliminate overlap in job responsibilities and are designed to help the company better respond to threats from Apple Inc. (AAPL), Google (GOOG) Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., which are increasingly targeting Microsoft’s corporate-computing customers. Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer doesn’t think the company is getting enough return on the billions it spends annually on marketing, the people said.

The review is being lead by Chris Capossela, who took over as the company’s chief marketing officer last year, according to the people. Capossela is working with senior marketing executives for each of Microsoft’s business groups, such as Yusuf Mehdi from the Xbox unit and Tami Reller from Windows, one of the people said.

Moving People Around

Changes may include shifting some of the more technical marketing workers to engineering groups, cutting employees who don’t have needed skills or whose work is duplicated by other workers, and revamping how marketing groups are organized and where they fit into the rest of the company, the people said.

Peter Wootton, a spokesman for Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, declined to comment.
Microsoft spent $13.9 billion on sales and marketing in fiscal 2011, which ended on June 30, up 5.5 percent from the previous year. Microsoft said then that it had 25,000 workers devoted to those tasks, without breaking out how many are focused on marketing. The company had about 90,000 full-time employees in total.

Consumer-focused technology companies like Apple are making inroads in the business world, forcing the information- technology industry to regroup. Apple will sell $10 billion worth of iPads and $9 billion of Mac computers to corporate customers this year, a 58 percent jump, Forrester Research Inc. (FORR) said in a report last week.

Google announced a deal earlier today to supply e-mail and business services to the Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, marking the biggest corporate contract for the Internet-search company.

Microsoft also is facing rising costs because of a shift to cloud software, which is stored in the company’s data centers and delivered over the Internet. Its $8.5 billion purchase of Skype Technologies SA and Xbox gaming products are increasing expenses as well.

Microsoft announced its first-ever companywide firings in January 2009, a move that included more than 5,000 jobs by the time it concluded.

[winston]

THE RACE FOR DIVIDENDS IS ON!

Another day goes by, and another "World Dominating Dividend Grower" registers a fresh 52-week upside breakout.

Over the past few years, we've stressed the importance of dividends and high-quality stocks dozens of times in DailyWealth. We practically went to your house and made you buy them.

Our colleague Dan Ferris even coined the term "World Dominating Dividend Growers" to drive the point home. In a world full of risk and fraud, getting paid steady and growing cash dividends is one of the market's best strategies.

On Tuesday, we ran a chart of blue-chip dividend-payer Johnson & Johnson to show you how this idea is becoming fashionable on Wall Street. Helped by new buying interest in "World Dominating Dividend Growers," J&J is exhibiting super price action… along with two dominators we've recently highlighted, Intel and Wal-Mart. But don't forget Microsoft…

As Dan has highlighted many times in DailyWealth, Microsoft is one of the world's biggest, safest cash-generating stocks… and it pays a steady and growing dividend. Its dividend has grown an average of about 29% per year since 2003.

Today's chart shows how these attributes have helped Big Softy surge 17% in the past five weeks (a giant move for a blue chip). The race for dividends is on…


www.dailywealth.com

[kennynah]

statistics have always been used to propagate a concept, usually out of our proportion..

the statement below suggests a hefty 29% growth in dividend per annum since 2003... it will appear very enticing at first glance, but only..

29% of a small % is insignificant in reality

As Dan has highlighted many times in DailyWealth, Microsoft is one of the world's biggest, safest cash-generating stocks… and it pays a steady and growing dividend. Its dividend has grown an average of about 29% per year since 2003.

[iam802]

There was a time..people are wowed by MSFT.

However, for online services, MSFT is lagging terribly despite being in it for so many years.

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Microsoft Writing Down $6.2 Billion After AQuantive Sputters

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-0 ... -deal.html

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is taking a $6.2 billion writedown for almost the entire amount it paid for Internet-advertising company AQuantive Inc., signaling that its online division will perform worse than the company projected.

The non-cash charge means the company will probably post a loss for the quarter, which ended in June. Before the statement, analysts had predicted that Microsoft would report profit of $5.3 billion in the period, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Microsoft bought AQuantive for about $6.3 billion in 2007 to catch Google Inc., amid an acquisition spree for companies that specialize in online advertising. The deal failed to accelerate growth as much as anticipated at the company’s money- losing online division, Microsoft said. The company won’t reverse losses as quickly as it intended, said a person with knowledge of the matter, who’s not authorized to speak publicly.

“Online services is the biggest drag on the company right now,” said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners LP in New York, who has a buy recommendation on Microsoft.

Even as the AQuantive deal didn’t meet projections, Microsoft said its online division has shown improvement in other areas, including revenue per search and market share gains for the Bing search engine.

Operating losses in online services narrowed to $1.45 billion in the nine months through March 31, from $1.91 billion a year earlier, Microsoft said in April. Sales gained 11 percent to $2.13 billion in the period.

‘Slow Improvement’

“It’s the classic come-front-behind, slow, incremental improvement,” Gillis said. “Bing has made incremental gains.”

Microsoft agreed to buy AQuantive weeks after Google said it would acquire DoubleClick Inc., which also handles online advertising.

The company had to take the writedown because the online business isn’t growing as quickly as forecast, and it’s taking longer to turn around than Microsoft expected, said the person. The company hasn’t boosted revenue per search as much as it had projected. What’s more, distribution deals in which Microsoft pays companies like Dell Inc. (DELL) and Verizon Wireless have added customers -- though at a high cost, the person said.

“This is an accounting decision that the company made based on how the business is performing relative to the projections we had made during the past five years,” Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer and online unit President Qi Lu, wrote in an e-mail to employees obtained by Bloomberg.

“We want to be very clear that we are strongly committed to a strong and financially successful” online division, according to the memo, whose authenticity was confirmed by Microsoft.

Microsoft was little changed at $30.56 at the close today in New York. It has climbed 18 percent this year.

[iam802]

MSFT. Transitioning from a software into a hardware and services company.

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http://www.microsoft.com/investor/repor ... index.html