|
Key points to remember
- Microsoft is partnering with Meta to offer what is called the “virtual desktop of the future”.
- Microsoft held a launch event where they unveiled various new products including an AI-based graphic design application, which indicates that the company is investing in the field of artificial intelligence.
- Microsoft continues to generate revenue from a variety of streams, ranging from enterprise communications platforms to cloud-based security.
Microsoft has been in the news lately as the company announced deals with other tech giants like Meta and Apple. Even though fears of runaway inflation have impacted the stock market throughout 2022, Microsoft recently saw its stock price rise based on positive news and launches — like an aging hip-hop star. hop finding new audiences sampled on the trail of a younger artist.
Microsoft made waves with the new partnership with Meta to bring its products to the virtual reality space, among new product launches.
We’ll be looking at all the recent news with Microsoft that you should know about if you’re considering investing in this company, as there’s been a lot going on lately.
What’s going on with Microsoft stocks?
A few things happening with Microsoft that investors are talking about.
Microsoft increased its dividend
On September 20, Microsoft announced that the board had declared a quarterly dividend of $0.68 per share, an increase of about 10% over the previous quarter’s dividend. This should make the stock more attractive to income investors looking for strong companies. The company generates a lot of cash and earnings should easily cover distributions. Dividend investing is ideal if you are looking to fight inflation and smooth out your exposure to volatility.
Microsoft continues to invest in cloud technology.
Microsoft continues to invest in the cloud space, where it competes with Amazon. Global digital transformation helps the company to increase revenue. Intelligent Cloud revenue was $20.9 billion for the quarter ending July 30, 2022. Intelligent Cloud’s business segment includes Azure (public cloud for hosting applications), SQL Server, Windows Server and enterprise services.
Microsoft Teams is growing
Microsoft Teams has grown to 270 million monthly active users, which means it has surpassed popular platform Slack, which has only around 18 million active users. Teams is now the most popular business communication platform in the world. The application is available in 181 countries and 44 different languages.
What you need to know about the Meta-Microsoft partnership
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently appeared at the Meta Connect 2022 conference. Microsoft and Meta recently announced their partnership. Microsoft’s enterprise applications will be integrated into Meta’s Horizon virtual desktop environment.
Here are some of the highlights of this Meta-Microsoft partnership:
- Mesh for Microsoft Teams will be coming to Meta Quest devices. This will allow people to connect and collaborate as if they were working in person.
- Microsoft 365 Apps will be available on Meta Quest devices. This would allow users to access applications such as Word, Excel and Outlook in virtual spaces.
- Microsoft Intune and Azure Active Directory will support Meta Quest Pro and Meta Quest 2. This would give users the security and management control they get from virtual reality PCs.
- The two companies are also still working on ways to bring Xbox cloud gaming to the Meta Quest Store. This feature would allow gamers to stream Xbox games to phones, tablets, and the Meta Quest platform.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes Meta’s virtual reality platform will be the virtual office of the future. The point is to share and collaborate with others as if you were together in real life, according to Nadella. This partnership is a vote of confidence from Microsoft, as many investors soured on Meta in 2022.
Microsoft Surface Event
Microsoft unveiled the Surface Laptop 5 at its annual launch event on October 12, 2022. The laptop officially goes on sale today, October 25. Many reviewers weren’t thrilled with recent Surface news; some even think that the company has given up on innovative features, as the new model resembles its predecessor.
Microsoft ended up rolling out three major new products at the event: the Surface Pro 9, Surface Laptop 5, and Surface Studio 2+ all-in-one computer. The company also announced that it will add iCloud Photos to Windows 11 and Apple Music to Xbox.
While the company announced various new creativity and productivity tools for users, the only notable product was the AI-powered graphic design app that lets you generate any image you can imagine. Microsoft Designer will use the same AI technology found in DALL-E 2 to let you create unique images, digital postcards and more. With the Designer app coming to Microsoft Edge, users can create social media content from their browsers.
What’s next for Microsoft stocks?
It’s hard to know for sure what we can expect from the stock market in 2022 because of all the volatility this year has brought us – from the war in Ukraine to soaring inflation that can’t be contained.
Here are some fascinating things to consider when deciding whether to invest in Microsoft stocks.
Inflation continues to soar and cause stock market volatility
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported September inflation data on October 13, causing many tech stocks to tumble the next day. As the consumer price index (the CPI is the generally accepted measure of inflation) hit 8.2% in September, many pundits feared this could lead to further hikes in interest rates. interest from the Fed and increased uncertainty in the stock market. The biggest concern with the lingering inflation numbers is that further rate hikes could officially tip the economy into a recession.
It should be noted that Microsoft stock closed on October 13 at $228.56, then Monday morning it was up 4% at times, hovering around the $238 mark until it finally closed the day at $237.53. So, despite everything we just mentioned about inflation, Microsoft has been doing well recently. We’ll see how they hold up to future rate hikes, but the stock closed at $247.25 yesterday, up 2.12% on the day.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard will generate more revenue
Many pundits hope that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard will materialize in 2023, despite current regulatory delays. This deal is believed to add around 400 million new gamers into Microsoft’s orbit. The UK Competition and Markets Authority is currently investigating the acquisition to ensure it does not harm competition; there are fears that Microsoft will pull “Call of Duty” from Sony. If the deal goes through, Microsoft will own popular games like “Call of Duty,” “Candy Crush,” and “World of Warcraft.” We’ll be watching to see how this transaction plays out, as the $68.7 billion acquisition would be a game-changer.
Microsoft launches new products
We’ve already mentioned Microsoft’s partnership with Meta, which made headlines, but the company has other new projects that could be lucrative soon. The most notable new product is Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty, which is designed to meet the cloud needs of governments and the public sector. This product should be particularly useful in Europe when it comes to helping countries achieve their digital transformations. A Microsoft executive recently mentioned the number of companies accelerating their digital transformations with cloud-based services due to the European energy crisis.
Stock analysts say Microsoft stock is a buy
Michael Turrin of Wells Fargo
WFC
All eyes will be on Microsoft’s next earnings report announcement on October 25. We will see what kind of growth Microsoft has had in its various applications like the Microsoft 365 suite, Dynamics and Power Platform. Microsoft also expects significant revenue growth from Surface as consumers seek out premium devices.
How should you invest?
If you’re a tech fan, there are plenty of ways to invest in artificial intelligence and companies that derive revenue from cloud-based technology. If you want to invest in this field without having to go through hours of research and incomprehensible hype, Q.ai takes the guesswork out of investing. With our Emerging Tech Kit, you can take advantage of data-driven, AI-backed investment strategies while spreading risk across an entire securities sector.
The bottom line
Companies like Microsoft will continue to do well with cloud-based services as the world continues its digital transformation. Microsoft has a wide variety of revenue streams that will bring in money for the company. With many analysts calling Microsoft a buy, it’s definitely worth looking into.
Download Q.ai today to access AI-powered investment strategies. When you deposit $100, we add an additional $100 to your account.
Comments are closed.