Microsoft (MSFT) / Bill Gates

[winston]

not vested

There is still a lot of growth inMicrosoft that the market hasn’t priced in.

Azure, its web-services platform, has good growth prospects, as does Office 365, and even Xbox.

The same goes for LinkedIn, which Microsoft acquired a few years ago and intends to integrate into its customer relationship-management software.

There are multiple vectors of growth.

Source: Barron's

https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-tw ... 20Magazine

[winston]

not vested

Recent Weakness Is an Opportunity to Buy Microsoft Stock

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares have almost tripled in value over the last five years, and the quarterly dividend has increased from 28 cents per share to 42 cents under CEO Satya Nadella. That makes the yield 1.77%, but as a Microsoft shareholder I’m not complaining.

Nadella has Microsoft growing again, revenue rising over 15% last year, and on track for a gain of nearly 10% this year.

It’s bringing nearly one-third of that revenue to the net income line, and the balance sheet in September showed it with almost $133 billion in cash and short-term investments. As I wrote in 2015, this is not your father’s Microsoft.

Microsoft’s Azure cloud has been leading the revitalization. Along with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and IBM (NYSE:IBM) is one of the top three cloud infrastructure and service providers in a world increasingly dependent on the cloud. By putting its own operations on Azure, Microsoft has nearly eliminated the seasonality that used to plague results.

Source: Investor Place

[winston]

not vested

I Look For This Stock to Continue Climbing Higher

by Rick Pendergraft

Over the last three years, Microsoft has averaged annual earnings growth of 18%, while sales have grown at a rate of 10%.

In the most recent quarterly report, Microsoft saw earnings jump by 36% and sales were up by 19%.

As for MSFT’s profitability measurements, the return on equity is at 35.5% with the return on assets at 8.6%. The management efficiency measurements show a profit margin of 33.1% and an operating margin of 31.7%

Source: Investor Place

http://dailytradealert.com/2018/11/07/i ... ng-higher/

[winston]

not vested

I Look For This Stock to Continue Climbing Higher

by Rick Pendergraft

Over the last three years, Microsoft has averaged annual earnings growth of 18%, while sales have grown at a rate of 10%.

In the most recent quarterly report, Microsoft saw earnings jump by 36% and sales were up by 19%.

As for MSFT’s profitability measurements, the return on equity is at 35.5% with the return on assets at 8.6%. The management efficiency measurements show a profit margin of 33.1% and an operating margin of 31.7%

Source: Investor Place

http://dailytradealert.com/2018/11/07/i ... ng-higher/

[winston]

not vested

Microsoft

Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) cloud business is still in high growth mode. Cloud pricing has not yet "commoditized," said David Miller, chief investment officer at Catalyst Funds, meaning that Microsoft can still charge higher prices for cloud services. That's pricing.

But volumes are set to continue big increases as well, as cloud adoption is still growing. Many companies have adopted the cloud, but they can still move more of their data into it, and Microsoft has been pulling ahead in market share of late, with Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN) Amazon Web Services leading in many segments.

Although Microsoft and Amazon share much of the market, which is slowing somewhat, the expected growth rate is so high that cloud revenues are set to increase, which bodes well for Microsoft Azure.

Cloud revenues grew at roughly 50% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2018, according to Synergie Research Group data.

So even if there's a slowdown, the growth is still high. Microsoft is trading at a trailing earnings multiple of 43.16, which isn't exactly at the higher end of the business.

Investors can buy Amazon for the same reason, but Amazon is in other businesses outside of the cloud that one has to consider as well, and has a trailing earnings multiple of 100.

Source: The Street

[winston]

not vested

Microsoft Is a Huge Bargain Lying in Plain Sight

The software giant is a terrific investment opportunity offering investors a steady and stable return.

by Michael Wiggins De Oliveira

Microsoft's top line continues to grow at roughly mid-teens, paying up 17.6 times cash flow from operations goes a long way to demonstrate that in spite of being a household name, Microsoft is no way overpriced at the moment.

Source: The Street

https://www.thestreet.com/technology/mi ... t-14825416

[winston]

not vested

THIS 'DIGITAL UTILITY' JUST HIT ANOTHER ALL-TIME HIGH

Today, we're revisiting one of the titans in the tech industry...

Regular readers know you can make good money investing in what Doc calls "digital utilities." Just as utilities like gas and water are indispensable in our everyday lives, we use apps and programs constantly in today's tech-driven world. And today's company is a leading maker of digital tools...

Microsoft (MSFT) is a tech powerhouse, providing computers and software that we use every day. Whether you're using a PC or a Mac, you're probably using a lot of Microsoft's products. That includes its Office suite and cloud services like OneDrive, found in workplaces around the world.

And sales are still stacking up... In the latest quarter, demand for cloud services drove Microsoft's commercial cloud revenue up 41% year over year. And overall sales increased 14%.

As you can see, MSFT has steadily marched upward, hitting all-time highs along the way. In April, the company even reached a whopping $1 trillion in market value. Clearly, it pays off to invest in the tech we can't live without...

Source: Daily Wealth

[winston]

not vested

Microsoft (MSFT)

Top-rated Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives has just reiterated his MSFT Buy rating with a $155 price target. From current levels that indicates 18% upside potential.

“In our opinion Microsoft remains in an enviable position heading into the rest of 2019 and 2020 on the heels of its cloud success and is firing on all cylinders around its Office 365 and Azure strategic vision based on our recent checks” explains the analyst.

The shift to cloud is a major secular trend that is significantly benefiting MSFT, says Ives. He believes Microsoft is perfectly positioned to get more complex workloads (e.g., AI, machine learning, etc.) as more enterprises take the leap to a hybrid cloud architecture over the coming years.

“While AWS remains the leader in cloud, we believe MSFT is starting to clearly "close the gap" the analyst tells investors.

Indeed, roughly 32% of workloads are in the cloud today, and this figure is poised to hit a whopping 55% by 2022.

Source: TipRanks

[winston]

not vested

Microsoft Stock

CEO Satya Nadella took over in 2014 and successfully moved the company's focus from traditional software sales to a subscription-based recurring revenue model.

Microsoft also has made big inroads in cloud-based services. It's not easy for a megacap like Microsoft to pivot to new markets. But the Dow component is doing it successfully, with double-digit annual earnings growth expected in 2019 and 2020.

When the company reported Q1 results on April 25, its commercial cloud revenue jumped 41% to $9.6 billion, making up nearly 1/3 of total revenue. Commercial sales of Office 365 increased 30%.

Microsoft continues to perform well after a breakout from a flat base with a 131.47 buy point.

Composite Rating: 94 (scale of 1-99 with 99 being the best)
Latest-quarter EPS % change: +20%
Latest-quarter sales % change: +14%

Three-year annualized EPS growth rate: +18%
Annual return on equity: 35.5%
Annual pretax profit margin: 33%

Source: IBD

[winston]

not vested

Microsoft will benefit from AI growth

by Jamal Carnette, CFA

Microsoft is back. The company fell out of favor with tech investors under prior CEO Steve Ballmer, as Apple and Alphabet dominated the smartphone/mobile era.

However, the company has experienced a renaissance under CEO Satya Nadella, and as of this writing is the only trillion-dollar company.

Look for strong returns to continue, as Microsoft is well-positioned to take advantage of the next big thing in tech: artificial intelligence.

Nadella has called AI the "defining technology of our times," and has reorganized the entire company to focus on AI and cloud computing.

AI will not be a "winner-take-all" market, but Microsoft may be the most comprehensive way to invest in its growth. Microsoft's AI technology will deepen relationships and increase spend from existing users, leading directly to increased revenue via first-order effects.

However, even if other companies create better AI-focused solutions, increased compute and storage functions will boost demand for its Azure cloud product. Ignore Microsoft's trillion-dollar market cap, and focus on the growth opportunity.

Source: Motley Fool