Microsoft Stock: Sales Might Be Slower This Quarter

The software giant might be experiencing slow growth in the upcoming quarter which might turn its stock downwards in the coming days

Microsoft Corporation has been growing its hardware and software business in all the right directions, making a huge comeback with the new version of its operating system, the Windows 10. It is to no one’s surprise that the giant has been falling behind in the money generation business and has been stomped over by rivals like Alphabet and Apple, both of which have been growing at a massive speed towards greatness. The recent activities that the software giant has been showing in the industry suggest that the company is not ready to continue falling behind in the tech world now and is ready to make a difference with its ideas and brainstorming now.

Analysts in the financial markets have been eyeing the activities of Microsoft stock for some time now and seem to believe that the giant could possibly be experiencing the same kind of success it enjoyed back in 2000 and that this time, the whole turnaround might be just at the right time. It is also believed by the industry pundits that the software company has been distributing dividends and showing considerable amount of growth in the sense for the past couple of quarters, which has positioned itself on the top.

Reportedly, Microsoft shares have also been growing in a rapid speed, with the EPS for every quarter increasing too. This has been considered as a surprising factor, given how the giant’s revenue for every quarter has been finding it hard to sustain over the past couple of years. Analysts, even those that have been bearish towards the giant’s stock, believe that the fact its share value, dividend distribution or EPS does not fall despite the unsatisfactory sales show that the company is indeed standing on firm ground. It is also believed that the software giant can also end up getting more investors in the long run, but investors in any company first demand certainty from the stock activities and this is something that is yet to be achieved by the Windows maker.

Microsoft business has also been carrying out huge buy back plans for its shares for the past three months in which it has reportedly bought back shares valued up to $4 billion in order to make pay back for shares and dividends. On the other hand, the sales of its hardware and software products has been going down and have been reported at 12% as compared to the sales done in the same quarter previous year.  

Microsoft Can Change Alphabet's Game In the Driverless Car Industry

The software giant has signed a deal with Volvo to enter the automotive industry by developing driverless car technology

Alphabet Inc might be at the top of its game where making driverless technology is concerned, but the recent evolution of other tech giants in the industry stepping onto the same platform to prove their worth is yet another worrisome competition for the giant that it cannot possibly ignore. Microsoft Corporation has come out to prove that the search engine giant might not be the lone dominant entity in the automotive vehicle business for a very long time, as it has signed up a deal with Volvo to start producing and developing technology to make driverless cars. Also, the software giant has decided to strike up a new and improved process to make buying cars easy for the customers.

Both the giants’ involvement as a partnership in the automotive industry is enough for the rivals to have their concerns raised about their own standing in the arena presently. Microsoft has so far not discussed the real dates of the release or initiation of the project with Volvo, but Zhejiang Geely’s company has informed the market of the fact that it will be making use of HoloLens to be incorporated in the new driverless cars. Analysts are of the opinion that this brand new partnership is directed towards the slowly establishing autonomous car industry and it is expected to go a long way.

Microsoft released ‘Windows in the Car’ in April which is software similar to CarPlay by Apple and Google’s Android Auto. The giant has slowly been getting in line with the progress that its rivals are making in the context and also upgraded the software with Cortana three months back. However, the software failed to attract much attention of the users as most of the limelight was stolen by QNX, which is BlackBerry’s version of the vehicle software.

Analysts are analyzing the partnership’s ongoing activities so far and have come to the conclusion that with the help of Volvo’s part, Microsoft business is set to make a big comeback in the overall industry. Even though Volvo is not an automotive brand with a massive fan following yet, analysts believe that this partnership is still expected to go a longer way to where Google is currently in the market. This is majorly because its parent company Alphabet has not yet gotten itself in any major deals regarding the autonomous technology yet which keeps the Windows makers a step ahead from it. 

Microsoft stock closed at $53.93 on Friday.

Jefferies Turns Bullish Towards Alphabet And Amazon Before Black Friday

The e-commerce giants are expected to report great sales in holidays and shopping seasons, and analysts believe that the investors and shareholders can sit back and relax while this happen.

Alphabet is expected to score some massive positives in the upcoming holiday season, as that is when the e-commerce activities are at their highest as more and more people choose to stay indoors and shop for their favorite products online. Equity firm, Jefferies, has carried out research on companies who hold an important position in the e-commerce industry and has concluded that the top most giants are unarguably Alphabet and Amazon.

These two companies have already started to hike up strategies to carry out before the big sale of Black Friday takes place and analysts in the market have analyzed which giant is currently showing more strength for the near term future.

According to Jefferies analysts, it has been noted that the Amazon has been experiencing an elevation in the same store sales with an increase of around 16% on a year over year basis as recorded I October, while it rose by 19% in the month of September. The highest increment on the sales was seen in August, with the sales going up by 25%. All positives that the e-commerce giant has been showing have made analysts very bullish, and they believe that the organization has been showing signs of growth, which are faster than any other sellers in the industry.

Amazon Web Services is another wing of the organization that has been drawing a lot of business and has been boosting the revenue of the giant in a very positive manner. All this has made the analysts present a price target of $775 to the retail giant. On the other hand, Alphabet seems to be getting highly bullish remarks from Jefferies backed up by the great earnings report it has posted in the third quarter of the year with the revenue growing by 21% compared to the previous year.

As per reports, the mobile monetization that the giant has been observing with the increasing mobile searches in every quarter is another factor, which can change the concerns of the analysts to some more bullishness. Alphabet business also reported the same store sales to experience increment of 32% in October as compared to the same quarter figures that were reported last year. The highest growth was seen in September, when the same store rose by 46% year over year and made jaws of industry pundits drop with the stunningly strong figures. This is why the analysts have turned extremely bullish towards both the e-commerce giants.