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Microsoft's Market Value Tops $500 Billion Again After 17 Years (reuters.com)

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the exceeding-expectations dept.

Microsoft's market capitalization topped $500 billion for the first time since 2000 on Friday, after the technology giant's stock rose following another quarter of results that beat Wall Street's expectations. From a report: Shares of the world's biggest software company rose as much as 2.1 percent to $65.64, an all-time high, in early trading, valuing the company at $510.37 billion. The last time Microsoft was valued more was in March 2000, during the heyday of the dotcom era, when it had a market value of a little above $550 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data. Despite the gains, Microsoft still lags Apple's market capitalization of about $642 billion and Google-parent Alphabet's market value of a little more than $570 billion. Microsoft reported second-quarter results on Thursday that beat analysts' average estimate for both revenue and profit, mainly due to its fast-growing cloud computing business. The company's profit and revenue have now topped Wall Street's expectations in seven of the last eight quarters.

46 comments

  1. What's that in Y2K dollars? by Toe,+The · · Score: 1

    Just curious what this represents vs. what it represented in 2000.

    1. Re:What's that in Y2K dollars? by Kierthos · · Score: 2

      Well, $500 billion in 2000 (depending on which site you use) is worth at least $688 billion today. Another site had it as much as $872 billion, FWIW.

      --
      Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
    2. Re:What's that in Y2K dollars? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      About $358,000,000
      Title should read "Microsoft market cap falls nearly 30% short of high point back in 2000!"

    3. Re:What's that in Y2K dollars? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Just curious what this represents vs. what it represented in 2000.

      Cumulative inflation from 2000-2016 was about 39%.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    4. Re:What's that in Y2K dollars? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      The first number is closer to the mark.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    5. Re:What's that in Y2K dollars? by Kierthos · · Score: 1

      Oh, I assumed so. I'm just listing what a couple different inflation calculators told me.

      Although, I should point out, it actually gave it in 2015 dollars. I guess the overall inflation calculations aren't in for 2016 or their calculators just haven't updated yet.

      --
      Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
    6. Re:What's that in Y2K dollars? by Anubis+IV · · Score: 4, Insightful

      According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator (that's based on the consumer price index):

      $500B USD in 2016 ~= $359B USD in 2000
      $550B USD in 2000 ~= $766B USD in 2016

      So, basically, they're at about 72% of the value they were at in the early 2000s. To be fair, they were a behemoth at the time, so that's still quite a feat, but it does go to show how far they've fallen.

    7. Re:What's that in Y2K dollars? by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      Correction: 65%, not 72%. Not sure how I messed the math up, but clearly I did.

    8. Re:What's that in Y2K dollars? by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Yes, but if you said that, then Microsoft wouldn't be winning!

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    9. Re: What's that in Y2K dollars? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And that is why I have two roommates that have worked for Microsoft for over twenty years each. They're getting screwed by stock options that cost them more than the stock is worth.

    10. Re: What's that in Y2K dollars? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The entire Seattle area is suffering with that. Naive employees think stock options are worth something then they buy a house that is more expensive than they can afford then they lose it. That screws the entire neighborhood due to the Director's Rules here that require 60% of residents to agree to utility upgrades when their house is empty and they're unreachable so a nonvote counts as a no so the rest of us can't get faster Internet access. On my block, only three houses are occupied so we'll never be allowed to get Comcast to upgrade their pedestals to support new larger upstream amps so we're stuck with dial-up.

    11. Re: What's that in Y2K dollars? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My roommate has options prices at $70 per share which is more than the current price. He sadly thinks he has something valuable.

  2. The power of Trump compels you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    good on you Microsoft! Don't let the h8terz here keep you from continuing to do gods work in the computer fields.

    Viva la Microsoft!

    1. Re: The power of Trump compels you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Imagine how much they'd be worth if Windows 10 wasn't shit.

    2. Re:The power of Trump compels you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Until Trump tweets that he will tax them back to the stone ages for employing H-1Bs while laying off thousands of Americans

      The Donald giveth and the Donald taketh away

    3. Re: The power of Trump compels you... by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      I know you are halfway kidding (I am erring in the middle) but I think this goes to show that Windows is no longer their primary revenue stream. Far from it actually.

      The last numbers I heard was that Window 7 still has about a 50% install base out of all Windows computers. So Windows 10 has one of the lowest adoption rates despite (or because of) aggressive marketing and pushing.

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    4. Re: The power of Trump compels you... by bondsbw · · Score: 1

      StatCounter has 7 at 40% and 10 at 27% for desktop worldwide market share.

      North America and Europe are fairly even with each carrying around 30-35%, with Oceania has 10 exceeding 7 by over 10%. However, the remainder more than balances that with much lower upgrade rates in Asia, Africa, and South America.

      --
      All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
  3. why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They are as far from surpassing Windows 2000 now as they have ever been.

  4. Oh no. They are gonna take this as... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... "Windows 10 was a great idea! Everything since Windows XP has been so well made! We are on top again, baby! Let's continue down this profitable road!"

    1. Re:Oh no. They are gonna take this as... by chipschap · · Score: 1

      ... "Windows 10 was a great idea! Everything since Windows XP has been so well made! We are on top again, baby! Let's continue down this profitable road!"

      That's the real danger, isn't it? That they will feel that they are doing things right with their spyware, their arrogance, and their disdain for the end user, even though the numbers show they have a long, long way to go to get back to where they were in terms of inflation-corrected dollars.

      To me this seems to say that they've made some temporary gains/recovery by pushing Windows 10 and all the telemetry. Does this bode well for the long term? Doubtful.

    2. Re:Oh no. They are gonna take this as... by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      I think they're very well aware they have a problem. When they run around declaring because Surfaces outsold Macs, you know they're really reaching for a good news story out of all this. The fact is that Apple and Google are the tech behemoths as the second decade of the 21st century closes, and Microsoft is basically riding on its Office/Backoffice strategy, with its OS dominance slipping badly as people do more and more computing outside the PC domain.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    3. Re:Oh no. They are gonna take this as... by lucm · · Score: 1

      The fact is that Apple and Google are the tech behemoths as the second decade of the 21st century closes, and Microsoft is basically riding on its Office/Backoffice strategy, with its OS dominance slipping badly as people do more and more computing outside the PC domain.

      It's ok to be a snob and look down on Microsoft but at least inject some common sense in your bashing. Neither Apple nor Google are benefiting from that "computing outside the PC domain". And chances are that when you run an Android app the backend is on Azure or AWS.

      Microsoft is a lot more future-oriented than Apple or Google at the moment.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    4. Re:Oh no. They are gonna take this as... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Neither Apple nor Google are benefiting from that "computing outside the PC domain"

      OP didn't claim that Google and Apple benefit from "computing outside the PC domain" - the claim was simply that they are the big boys these days, not Microsoft. The point being that Microsoft's power-by-OS-marketshare doesn't mean what it once did - the game has changed.

    5. Re:Oh no. They are gonna take this as... by lucm · · Score: 1

      Microsoft has the 3rd biggest market cap. Bigger than AT&T and Bank of America combined. Bigger than Wal-Mart, Coke and MasterCard combined.

      You can come here and piss on them all you want and pretend that you understand the industry better than them if that makes you feel less pathetic, but the fact remains that it's an immensely successful company that has been successful for more than 30 years and is more likely than Apple or Google to still be successful 30 years from now.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
  5. Did I miss something? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Did they buy someone who actually makes something while I wasn't looking?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Did I miss something? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No but apparently you missed that actually making something doesn't get you anwhere close to that much money.

    2. Re:Did I miss something? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep, they bought LinkedIn!

      (I kid, I kid...)

    3. Re:Did I miss something? by gravewax · · Score: 1

      Apparently you missed a fucking shit load considering there annual growth for the last 17 years has been very impressive so not sure where to start.

    4. Re:Did I miss something? by rsmith-mac · · Score: 1

      Did they buy someone who actually makes something while I wasn't looking?

      No one of great importance for their stock price.

      What you have missed is Azure, Microsoft's server (i.e. cloud) hosting operation. Not only is it profitable, but rapidly growing. MS can barely keep up with demand, despite the fact that it's a competitive market with Amazon AWS and other solutions as well.

      Azure in turn is also helping to sell a lot of server/business software. So while the consumer market is soft for MS, their business sales are booming, and hence the reason their earnings and overall valuation are so high.

    5. Re:Did I miss something? by gumbi+west · · Score: 1

      That's helpful. They sell really crap software and their amazing peripherals seem like an unlikely source of real revenue, so this was a head scratcher for me. Installing Windows on a machine now makes about as much sense as lighting it on fire and Office has only gotten rearranged since about version 6.0

    6. Re:Did I miss something? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      They make bullshit.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  6. Big difference from Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They pay dividends.

    1. Re:Big difference from Apple by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      Both companies pay dividends. They started paying dividends again in 2012 and have been paying them quarterly ever since. They even raised their dividend rates in the last year and have maintained their stock repurchase program, which together account for the largest capital return program in history (last I checked, the plan was to return $250B in capital to investors by the end of 2018).

      Which isn't to say anything bad about Microsoft. They've been paying dividends the entire time, so kudos to them for doing great this entire time. I'm merely pointing out that you have your information about Apple VERY wrong.

  7. Market Exuberance by deadwill69 · · Score: 2

    This has less to do with their true value and the unrealistic swelling of the stock markets. Just as during the .com days, this too is a sign of the next bubble is about to burst. Hold on...this has potential to be a big one.

    Just my $.02

    1. Re:Market Exuberance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The stock market isn't going anywhere. As of now, we are not sitting on a real estate bubble, nor any bubbles for that matter. So, this is a real value, not something inflated.

    2. Re: Market Exuberance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol?

    3. Re:Market Exuberance by ems2004 · · Score: 1

      wait until there software causes car piles on the freeways...what they are touting as networking of cars....

      --
      ..... best things in life are not so free..........
    4. Re:Market Exuberance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just my $.02

      Actually, that would be $.09 under the current opinion market conditions.

  8. Windows x: what if... by unixisc · · Score: 1

    Actually, question should be - 'What would they be worth had Windows 8 and 10 been sold like Windows 7 to willing buyers, as opposed to being a free download forced upon everyone?' If Windows 8 was like Windows 7 in desktop mode, and like Windows 10 tablet mode in tablet mode, it would have been just fine. Add to that different ports to different platforms like ATM machines and so on, and it would have been just perfect

    From a revenue standpoint, telemetry was not what hurt Windows 10: it was more the shift from the sale of OS licenses to the Google model of data mining

    1. Re:Windows x: what if... by lucm · · Score: 1

      From a revenue standpoint, telemetry was not what hurt Windows 10: it was more the shift from the sale of OS licenses to the Google model of data mining

      Microsoft is making shit-tons of money; Windows alone brings them 11 billions per quarter. They make 7 billions per quarter with the cloud. Of course everyone has their theory as to what they should have done with this or that, but until we get access to parallel universes to compare business decisions I'd say they're on top of things.

      Meanwhile Google is losing steam real fast, the search money is drying up, that's why they bought part of twitter: so they can ramp-up their cloud offering, which currently sucks.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
  9. Satya pumping up his $100M in options by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's the same old story. Make layoffs (get rid of QA), destroy your brand through dishonest practices that show a temporary increase in revenue on the books (Win 10).

    By the time the damage begins to hurt MSFT profits, Satya will have cashed in his options already and left for another company.

  10. P/E over 30? by jcr · · Score: 1

    MSFT is stupidly overvalued.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    1. Re:P/E over 30? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At of the market is. And yet when a crash happens people say stupid shit like "2T of value wiped out". There was never that much value there in the first place. And no one sure as hell put that much money into the market. It goes like this. Say i have a company called X and it has 1M which i hold onto shares at my IPO. They all sell for the IPO price of $10, woo hoo. I got me 10Million. Time move on. A few years later about 1000 shares (0.1% of the tradeable shares), get traded at the price of $1000. Wow. Now X has a market cap of 1Billion. Note how nothing like a billion dollars was ever traded or exchanged.

  11. That's why Microsoft ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    ... fought so hard to put data on Irish soil:

    ... mainly due to its fast-growing cloud computing business.

    Microsoft knew that its client base would bolt if the US could have unfettered access.

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  12. Re:Market Exuberance, of course by lucaiaco · · Score: 1

    I have been reading this comment for about 4 years now.