MSFT - Microsoft Corporation
147.90 -0.16 (-0.11%)
After hours: 5:13PM EST
| Previous Close | 147.31 |
| Open | 147.02 |
| Bid | 148.14 x 800 |
| Ask | 148.15 x 1300 |
| Day's Range | 147.00 - 148.41 |
| 52 Week Range | 93.96 - 148.41 |
| Volume | 14,754,666 |
| Avg. Volume | 23,062,267 |
| Market Cap | 1.131T |
| Beta (3Y Monthly) | 1.23 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 27.94 |
| EPS (TTM) | 5.30 |
| Earnings Date | Jan 28, 2020 - Feb 3, 2020 |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 2.04 (1.38%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | 2019-11-20 |
| 1y Target Est | 160.16 |
- MarketWatch
Amazon to protest award of $10 billion Pentagon cloud-computing contract to Microsoft
Amazon.com Inc. plans to protest the award last month of a 10-year, $10 billion Pentagon cloud-computing contract to Microsoft Corp. that many assumed would go to Amazon. The controversial JEDI deal has been contested for months, prompting one previous bidder, Oracle Corp. , to file a lawsuit disputing the selection process. "AWS is uniquely experienced and qualified to provide the critical technology the U.S. military needs, and remains committed to supporting the DoD's modernization efforts. We also believe it's critical for our country that the government and its elected leaders administer procurements objectively and in a manner that is free from political influence. Numerous aspects of the JEDI evaluation process contained clear deficiencies, errors, and unmistakable bias -- and it's important that these matters be examined and rectified," an Amazon spokesman said in a statement to MarketWatch on Thursday.
- MarketWatch
Boeing, UnitedHealth share gains lead the way, but Dow flat
DOW UPDATE Shares of Boeing and UnitedHealth are seeing strong returns Thursday afternoon, though the Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading roughly flat. The Dow (DJIA) most recently, was trading 4 points, or 0.
- MarketWatch
This is what the net worth of the world’s elite would look like if Elizabeth Warren’s tax plan had been in effect since 1982
The world’s uber wealthy would certainly take a significant hit under Elizabeth Warren’s tax plan, but even if her proposal were in place for decades, the fortunes of men like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft founder Bill Gates would still be firmly intact, according to a website founded by two UC Berkeley economists.
- Zacks
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Nvidia, Intel, TSMC, Google and Microsoft
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Nvidia, Intel, TSMC, Google and Microsoft
- Zacks
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Microsoft, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Tesla and General Dynamics
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Microsoft, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Tesla and General Dynamics
- Bloomberg
How Amazon’s Klutzy Politicking Backfired in Seattle
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- For a company that is so good at so many things, Amazon is remarkably bad at politics.Exhibit A is the latest debacle in its hometown of Seattle, where the company’s push to seat a more politically moderate city council backfired. Campaign cash aimed at producing a less tax-happy council triggered the opposite result and turned a socialist headed for defeat into a martyr.Amazon has never been known for subtlety. The $1.45 million it spread around in political contributions to City Council candidates not only set a record, but also changed the trajectory of the election. Polls showed that voters who were poised to replace some leftist council members changed course. After Amazon’s donations became public, they elected five of seven candidates opposed by a business coalition. One of them was Councilmember Kshama Sawant of the Socialist Alternative party, who declared her come-from-behind re-election victory in front of a giant red sign that declared, “Tax Amazon.” Which the newly Amazon-unfriendly council almost certainly will do.Amazon employs 54,000 people in Seattle and owns or occupies 47 buildings there. That’s made the city seem like the biggest company town in the U.S., and has probably blinded Amazon’s leaders to the angst and tumult they’ve unleashed in a place that’s become both more prosperous and less livable.Sawant, who managed less than 40% of the vote in the August primary, went so far as to call Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and chief executive, “our enemy,” and described her victory as a win for working people against the world’s richest man.“Amazon overplayed their hand,” said Egan Orion, the candidate who lost to Sawant. “I wasn’t able to make my closing arguments. There was so much noise.”Once Amazon donated in such a big way, the race became nationalized. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, the presidential candidates vying for the hearts of the Democratic Party’s left flank, chimed in via Twitter to trash the Amazon contributions.Here’s what Warren had to say:Here’s Sanders:Another winner, Tammy Morales, favors a bevy of local tax options to raise money for homeless services, housing and other needs. Her list includes revisiting an employee head tax similar to one Amazon successfully fought in 2018, plus a local estate tax and a tax on high salaries dubbed an “excess compensation tax.”Amazon has been trying to fine-tune its relationship with Seattle for years, and concern about relations with the City Council was among the reasons it announced in 2017 that it was looking for a second headquarters location — another endeavor that showcased the company’s limited political skills.That contest blew up in New York City when politicians and others protested the size of an Amazon enticement package — up to $3 billion in tax breaks and other incentives.In Seattle, Amazon had mostly maintained a quiet political presence until May 2018, when the City Council passed the Amazon Tax on larger companies, a head tax of $275 per employee.Amazon promptly announced that it would stop construction on one of its new buildings if the tax were imposed.The council then hastily repealed it when polls showed it could harm the council at the next election — the contest that ended so disastrously for the company this month.Starbucks, also headquartered in Seattle, took a different approach, donating a much smaller sum to the business campaign. A Starbucks executive also sent a letter to employees urging a vote for unspecified “change” and invited the public to have a cup of coffee. This was a subtle, defter move, in part because it was hard to tell exactly what the company was saying.At this juncture, perhaps after apologizing or remaining quiet a while, Amazon has a few choices. It could face probable new taxes gamely or think along the lines of Apple, which recently announced a $2.5 billion plan to ease the housing shortages and affordability crisis in California. Or take a page from Microsoft, the tech giant across Lake Washington from Amazon, which last winter offered a well received $500 million investment in affordable housing and homelessness relief across the region.To be fair, Amazon has invested in a homeless shelter in Seattle for families, Mary’s Place, which will eventually occupy eight floors in one of the new Amazon buildings. Mary’s Place does great work. But that answer to the enormous problem of homelessness and housing affordability now seems a trifle. The overall contribution to challenges facing the city is too small to those who believe Amazon needs to step up and invest in ways commensurate with its size and impact.To contact the author of this story: Joni Balter at jcbalter@gmail.comTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Jonathan Landman at jlandman4@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Joni Balter is a longtime Seattle columnist and writer who contributes to local NPR and PBS affiliates.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
Microsoft and Salesforce Strike Partnership, Helping Thaw Chilly Relations
(Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. and Salesforce.com Inc. are connecting more of their software and Salesforce will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud for part of its business, a thaw in a relationship that grew chilly several years ago when both companies pursued the same acquisition. The agreement, to connect some of Salesforce’s software with Microsoft’s Teams corporate chat and use Azure for Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud, expands an existing strategic relationship forged in the early days of Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella’s tenure. But the relationship grew strained in 2016 after Microsoft beat Salesforce to acquire LinkedIn and Salesforce complained to European regulators about the deal. The two companies have not announced any partnerships since. Microsoft and Salesforce compete for customers who want cloud-based software programs for customer management. Nadella, who once ran that business for Microsoft, has invested more effort into bolstering his company’s products in that area. The LinkedIn purchase was a key part of that plan, and Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff was said to have been angered at Microsoft’s actions. Still the two companies, among the biggest makers of cloud-based corporate applications, have many areas in which they can cooperate and Microsoft wants to lure large technology company customers to Azure, which trails cloud-computing market leader Amazon.com Inc. As part of the deal, Salesforce will connect its Sales Cloud and Service Cloud with Microsoft’s Teams, the companies said Thursday in a statement. Teams is trying to gain customers from rival Slack Technologies Inc. Salesforce had previously run Marketing Cloud on its internal systems, but uses other cloud providers for different parts of its business. The San Francisco-based company has leveraged infrastructure cloud deals as a way to sweeten partnerships. In 2017, as part of a tie-up with Alphabet Inc. to connect Google Analytics to Salesforce programs, Salesforce said it would host some of its core services on Google Cloud Platform as it expands globally—calling Google a “preferred public cloud provider.” The following year, Salesforce dubbed International Business Machines Corp. a "preferred cloud services provider" as part of an alliance to use IBM’s artificial intelligence with Salesforce software. It also does business with Amazon Web Services.Microsoft and Salesforce's deepening partnership in some areas comes amid greater competition between the companies elsewhere. Salesforce said in June it would pay more than $15 billion to buy Tableau Software Inc., a maker of analytics programs. Tableau and Microsoft compete in the market for business intelligence software. To contact the authors of this story: Dina Bass in Seattle at dbass2@bloomberg.netNico Grant in San Francisco at ngrant20@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Pollack at apollack1@bloomberg.net, Alistair BarrJillian WardFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- PR Newswire
Microsoft and Salesforce expand strategic partnership to accelerate customer success
REDMOND, Wash., and SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Salesforce (CRM) on Thursday announced plans to expand their strategic partnership to help customers meet the evolving needs of their businesses and boost team productivity. Salesforce has named Microsoft Azure as its public cloud provider for Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
- Zacks
Top 6 Dow Stocks That Have Outpaced Index's Year-to-Date Gain
The Dow is firmly in the positive territory with a gain of 19.1% year to date. This is an excellent performance after a disappointing 2018, when the index lost nearly 6%.
- PR Newswire
Allianz partners with Microsoft to digitally transform the insurance industry
MUNICH and REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday, Allianz SE and Microsoft Corp. announced a strategic partnership focused on digitally transforming the insurance industry, making the insurance process easier while creating a better experience for insurance companies and their customers. Through the strategic partnership, Allianz will move core pieces of its global insurance platform, Allianz Business System (ABS), to Microsoft's Azure cloud and will open-source parts of the solution's core to improve and expand capabilities.
- Bloomberg
Macron and Merkel Are Caught in a New Cold War
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- “Technological sovereignty” is one of the European Union’s buzzwords of the moment, conjuring up an image of a safe and secure space for zettabytes of home-grown data, free from interference or capture by the U.S. and China.Both France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Angela Merkel have used the phrase to kick-start all sorts of initiatives, from artificial intelligence programs to state-backed cloud computing. The new European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen has etched the concept into her political guidelines.It’s a noble goal, if only because it acknowledges Europe is anything but technologically sovereign right now. The internet behemoths are in America and China — Alphabet Inc., Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd — and an estimated 92% of the Western world’s data is stored in the U.S., according to the CEPS think tank. China accounts for more than one-third of global patent applications for 5G mobile technology. Amazon boasts that 80% of blue-chip German companies on the DAX exchange use its cloud services business AWS. The trigger to do something about it is the race for supremacy between Beijing and Washington, which is spilling over into the tech sector and undercutting the EU’s ability to protect its turf. President Donald Trump’s ban on Huawei Technologies Co. and his attempts to bully allies into doing the same was a wake-up call, however valid his security concerns. The U.S. “Cloud Act,” which forces American businesses to hand over data if ordered regardless of where it’s stored, was another. Both China and the U.S. see the EU as an easy mark in the global tech tussle. And they’re right. Europe’s problem is that recapturing sovereignty is neither easy nor cheap. Take cloud computing, one area where France and Germany are eyeing the building of “sovereign” domestic infrastructure for use by national and European companies. This is a $220 billion global market dominated by U.S. suppliers with market values of close to $1 trillion, which invests tens of billions of dollars every year on infrastructure. Their power isn’t just technological: When Microsoft Corp. spends $7.5 billion on an acquisition such as GitHub, a forum for open-source coding, it’s bringing valuable developers into its own orbit. Likewise, Amazon’s AWS has the scale, cheap pricing and perks that lock in customers.France and Germany won’t win a head-on battle in this field. Paris is still smarting from a failed attempt years ago at building a sovereign cloud for the princely sum of 150 million euros ($165 million). Germany has Gaia-X, which looks like a common space for the sharing of data by the leading lights of the DAX , from SAP SE to Siemens AG. It’s hard to see how such initiatives will lead to true digital sovereignty, though; not just because of a lack of serious investment, but because it’s hard to avoid using U.S. cloud tech.Still, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if this trend led to France and Germany collaborating more — laying the groundwork for more ambitious spending — and to Brussels doing what it does best: setting the rules of engagement for tech companies everywhere. Digital commissioner Margrethe Vestager is already demanding tougher enforcement of data protection laws and taking a consistently muscular approach to antitrust violations by the Silicon Valley and Seattle giants. It’s not sovereignty, but it’s a start.To contact the author of this story: Lionel Laurent at llaurent2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: James Boxell at jboxell@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Brussels. He previously worked at Reuters and Forbes.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- American City Business Journals
Billionaire Google, robotics inventor sued for 'indefensible' sale price of Palo Alto company
Scott Hassan is reportedly accused by his wife, who he is separated from, of selling assets of the creator of the Beam video conferencing robot for $400,000 when it should have fetched a pricetag of tens of millions.
- Moody's
Microsoft Corporation -- Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Microsoft Corporation
Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Microsoft Corporation and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review in which Moody's reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. This publication does not announce a credit rating action and is not an indication of whether or not a credit rating action is likely in the near future.
- Zacks
3 Cloud Stocks for Tech Investors to Buy with Stock Market at New Highs
Today we found 3 cloud stocks utilizing our Zacks Stock Screener that tech investors might want to consider buying with the stock market at new highs in November...
- Bloomberg
Microsoft to Attend Pentagon Summit on Project Maven
(Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. is sending representatives to a series of meetings with Pentagon officials Wednesday to discuss how companies can contribute to the military’s work on artificial intelligence, according to a list of participants reviewed by Bloomberg. Microsoft is the only Big Tech company set to attend the event, which is likely to draw objections from employees and protesters who have broad concerns about the use of AI for military purposes.About 140 companies and organizations are on the list of attendees, which includes Boeing Co., International Business Machines Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. Anduril Industries Inc., a new startup from former Facebook Inc. executive Palmer Luckey, will also be there. The defense contractor began working this year on Project Maven, a technology unit of the Pentagon whose official name is the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team.For the last two years, Maven has been at the center of a contentious public debate over the technology industry’s willingness to help build military technology. The project uses computer vision software to automatically analyze footage gathered by U.S. military drones. Google, an early participant in Maven, said last summer it would stop working on the project, following protests from employees who said the work strayed too closely to autonomous weaponry. Employees at Clarifai, a small computer vision startup, also objected to Maven, although that company continued to work on the project. It is on the list of attendees for this week’s meetings, which are co-hosted by Maven officials.Wednesday’s event is billed as an “AI Industry Day,” and the stated goal is to develop AI technology to assist soldiers in the field. The government said it is particularly interested in facial recognition, natural language processing, social media data and drone footage.Microsoft has made significant inroads with its military business over the last year. It won a contract a year ago worth as much as $480 million to build combat-ready versions of its HoloLens augmented reality headsets. Last month, it also won a $10 billion contract called Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, to build cloud computing infrastructure for the Defense Department.Both contracts inspired criticism from Microsoft employees who said they hadn’t signed up to build weaponry. The company’s executives have consistently said they would not step back from working with the U.S. military. In a meeting with employees the week after the company won the JEDI contract, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said he respected dissenting opinions but that the company had always been unambiguous about its military work, according to a person who attended and asked not to be identified discussing a private event. A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment. Microsoft’s ties to government work have caused controversy in other areas, too. Workers at Microsoft’s GitHub unit have asked the company to cancel a contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. On Wednesday morning, a group of protesters gathered at a GitHub conference in San Francisco to draw attention to the issue.The Defense Department has put increasing focus on AI in recent years. It sees the technology as key to geopolitical competition with China. But building it has come with challenges. U.S. officials have spoken openly about tensions in the military’s relationship with tech companies.“Some employees in the tech industry see no compelling reason to work with the Department of Defense,” Lieutenant General Jack Shanahan, the head of the Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, said at an event last week. Their reluctance, he said, often came from the government’s inability to adapt to the pace of the private sector: “We don’t make it easy for them.”(Updates with GitHub protests in the seventh paragraph.)To contact the author of this story: Joshua Brustein in New York at jbrustein@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Milian at mmilian@bloomberg.net, Vlad SavovFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- American City Business Journals
Here's where Microsoft will make its footprint in Louisville
In June, Microsoft announced it would make Louisville a regional hub for artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and data science. Now we know where the tech giant plans to make a physical presence.
- Bloomberg
Microsoft’s Head of AI and Research to Leave the Company
(Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. said Harry Shum, who oversees research and artificial intelligence at the world’s largest software maker, will leave the company in February. Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott will take over Shum’s duties effective immediately.Shum, a 23-year Microsoft veteran with a doctorate in robotics, was one of the founding members of Microsoft’s research lab in Beijing and also ran Bing search engine product development. He plans to depart Feb. 1, and then will be an adviser to Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella and co-founder Bill Gates, Microsoft said Wednesday in a statement.“Harry has had a profound impact on Microsoft,” Nadella said in the statement. “His contributions in the fields of computer science and AI leave a legacy and a strong foundation for future innovation.”Scott was senior vice president of engineering and operations at LinkedIn before that company was acquired by Microsoft.Microsoft and Shum didn’t give details on his future plans once he leaves the company. Executives and researchers with artificial intelligence expertise remain in high demand as U.S. technology companies invest to expand the use of AI and outpace rivals. China’s government and industry also have targeted the technology as an area in which they are seeking a leadership role.To contact the reporter on this story: Dina Bass in Seattle at dbass2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Andrew PollackFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- MarketWatch
These tech companies are staying flush despite concerns that Corporate America’s cash pile is set to dwindle this year
Even as cash stockpiles continue to dwindle at corporations, a select few tech firms have hoarded a chunk of these reserves
- Zacks
Top Analyst Reports for Microsoft, Novartis & Novo Nordisk
Top Analyst Reports for Microsoft, Novartis & Novo Nordisk
- Zacks
Nvidia Earnings On The Horizon: Can The Semi Rally Continue?
Nvidia's diverse portfolio of GPU functionalities gives me confidence that this firm is going to continue to impress the markets in the years to come.
- GuruFocus.com
Paul Tudor Jones Says Market Is Being Propelled by an 'Explosive Combination' of Forces
Guru believes easy monetary policy, lower taxes will push market into record territory Continue reading...
- MarketWatch
Stock buybacks of $570 billion next year may support the S&P 500 even if there’s a recession, report says
According to French bank Societe Generale, stock buybacks for S&P 500 companies may reach $570 billion in 2019.
- Barrons.com
Microsoft, Dollar General, and 2 Other Picks From a $14 Billion Fund
The T. Rowe Price Dividend Growth fund looks for companies that are consistently growing their dividends. Microsoft and Dollar General are among its picks.
