So Microsoft is going to buy some shares back? That's fine, but it's no big deal. In fact, it's long overdue.
The stock moved upward on the news that MSFT was going to basically establish their own support levels for the share price. This is better for people that hold stock options than it is for shareholders. They will be in the money sooner.
Everything I heard on the earnings call indicates the company is doing fine and will continue to do fine and that profit margins and cash flow are amazing. However, Microsoft is huge, bloated and average in so many ways. I would be happier to hear that they had a fantastic new plan for growth, Vista was going to be released earlier than expected and that their dividend was going to be increased to a level higher than the market average.
What we did not hear about was what they intended to do with their billion$ and billion$ because they have the good fortune of doing the buyback over time and still maintain staggering cash reserves. If they were going to spend their cash reserves -- that would have been a BIG DEAL!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-21-2006 @ 1:27PM
Scott said...
WHO CARES! WHY DOSENT GATES & CO PROVIDE US WITH ANOTHER DIVIDEND RATHER THAN BUY BACK STOCK?
ALSO, HOW ABOUT HELPING THE MIDDLE CLASS WORKING STIFF WITH THEIR HEALTH CARE NEEDS???? CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME
7-21-2006 @ 3:22PM
GEORGE said...
Question. I don't understand the rules about the 'DUTCH auction". ie If I buy stock at $24 will Msft be required to buy it back from me for $24.50 in Aug?. IF ANYONE CAN EXPLAIN IN LAYMAN'S TERMS i AM GRATEFUL.
7-21-2006 @ 5:22PM
Robert Carlson said...
A big sigh of relief on the earnings front, servers are hot and have been for 10 years! new toys and gadgets, phones and IP telephony etc. smoke. Search is an interesting way to burn cash and compete with google and pick their pocket. CORPORATE CASH (S&P 500) is 1 Trillion HOLD THE PRESSES.... IT BUDGETS to increase// well now we know !!!!!!!!
7-21-2006 @ 6:23PM
Cesar Brea said...
I admire the charity the Gates Foundation has been doing all over the world. How about some charity for us poor stockholders who live off the crumbs we collect from our holdings?
7-21-2006 @ 9:08PM
Lawrence T said...
Well, buying back the first 30 billion did nothing, so I now hope that spending another 40 billion will do something to increase the share price. MSFT needs to be a leader again and not a follower i.e. copying Apple. MSFT is so lucky they have no serious competition for Windows (for now). If open source was a threat to Windows, the CEO would have been long gone by now for lack of execution on a few fronts. I bet you the folks over at Intel take AMD a lot more serious these days! (pay attention to the lession they are learning about) HA! Glad to be holding Msft for a bit longer.
7-22-2006 @ 11:26PM
matt m said...
at last...some good news regarding msft stock buyback along with good earnings. stock buyback is a great start,, to create some excitement and energy in the stock..especially when tech issues were being beaten down. a little hint...can microsoft increase the divided??? it would be nice to see the stcok a more respectable price...
7-23-2006 @ 1:44PM
Lyle said...
Companies buy back stock when they either aren't growing or they can't find a better place to spend the money. Buying back shares makes earnings per share appear to be growing...