Microsoft Isn’t the Disaster Everyone Thinks

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Microsoft NASDAQ:MSFTAfter the closing bell on Thursday, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported fiscal Q2 earnings of 76 cents per share, which was a penny ahead of expectations. I think these results were decent despite widespread claims that Windows 8 has been a bust.

For the quarter, Microsoft’s profits dropped by 4% compared with last year. Quarterly revenue rose 3% to $21.46 billion, which was just shy of Wall Street’s forecast of $21.53 billion. The Windows division makes up about one-quarter of Microsoft’s overall business, and sales there rose by 11%. However, the company is getting slammed in its entertainment and office divisions.

To be sure, Microsoft has its share of problems. The online division is a financial black hole, and Xbox revenue is falling rapidly. On the plus side, Microsoft is doing better with business customers. That’s often been a tough nut for MSFT to crack. They were able to sign up more customers to long-term contracts, which bodes well for future business.

The problems Microsoft is having are plaguing the entire PC sector, and that’s one of the reasons why the company has joined a possible deal to take Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) private. I think one analyst summed it up well when he said, “Microsoft is evolving really into an enterprise software company.”

The bottom line is that Microsoft is a company with a lot of problems. But the share price is well beneath the fair value. The stock is currently going for less than 10 times this fiscal year’s earnings. Microsoft remains a good buy up to $30.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2013/01/microsoft-isnt-the-disaster-everyone-thinks-msft-dell/.

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