Microsoft Stock Has Rallied 37% This Year. Now It Could Reach New Highs.
Microsoft stock is on a tear in 2019
Following up on impressive earnings last quarter, software giant Microsoft recently announced a share buyback plan that helped send its stock soaring to new highs.
- Microsoft stock just hit its highest level in the last twelve months—breaking the $142 per share mark in day trading.
- The software giant said on Wednesday that it plans to buy back up to $40 billion in stock and raise its quarterly dividend 11%. The company is well-known for sharing cash with shareholders in the past, having authorized buybacks of similar magnitude in 2013 and again in 2016.
- The news sent the stock up by over 1.5% on Thursday, which helped lead the market higher in the wake of the Fed decision to cut interest rates again.
- Microsoft has posted strong earnings growth in recent months, in large part thanks to a bet on its developing cloud-computing business that helped drive record revenue. Azure, Microsoft’s popular cloud service, is now second in size only to Amazon.com’s AWS.
- The company heftily beat Wall Street estimates last quarter, reporting double-digit growth in almost all segments of its business: Sales were up 12%, and profits spiked 49% from a year earlier.
- Microsoft is the largest publicly traded company, valued at just over $1 trillion according to FactSet. That beats Apple, valued at around $999 billion, and Google, at $857 billion.
Source: forbes.com September 19, 2019
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