Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft's Market Value Tops $500 Billion Again After 17 Years (reuters.com)
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.
Just curious what this represents vs. what it represented in 2000.
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.
... "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.
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.
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
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.
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
MSFT is stupidly overvalued.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
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.
... fought so hard to put data on Irish soil:
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.
I have been reading this comment for about 4 years now.
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.
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.
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.