How Microsoft is a Beast

Microsoft plans to buy $40 Billion of stock in buy-back as stock surges on news.

I like covering technology news with a business or stockmarket slant.

Mere days before Microsoft workers are set to walk out of their jobs and publicly call on their employer to reduce carbon emissions and sever its ties with fossil fuel companies, the tech giant has announced a major partnership with two of the biggest corporations in the oil industry, according to Gizmodo.

But nevermind that, let’s talk about the important stuff.

Microsoft bought back $19.54 billion in shares last year, it plans to buy back another $40 billion.

In recent years, Microsoft has bought back shares of its stock on a regular basis under CEO Satya Nadella and in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, the company bought back $19.54 billion worth of its shares. In the previous fiscal year, the buybacks came to $10.72 billion.

Satya knows what he is doing, which means Microsoft’s stock is nearing all-time highs. Its stock is today $142.09 at the time of writing. This means it’s the most diversified and secure BigTech stock out there now.

As Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud begin to take on AWS, Microsoft is also keeping up with artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and continues an important trend of mega acquisitions such as LinkedIn and GitHub.

Microsoft paid its first dividend to shareholders in 2003, and it has generally bumped up its quarterly dividend every year or so. When it kicks in, the new dividend will be almost double what it was when Nadella took over from Steve Ballmer. This means this stock is becoming, like Apple, one of the stable and staple stocks that are now impossible to ignore.

Microsoft’s president has called on the US to end a ban on it supplying Huawei with Windows software for the Chinese company’s computers. Huawei was blacklisted by the Trump administration in May over claims it posed a threat to the US’s security. Microsoft’s LinkedIn has a product in China and with this call-out, Microsoft is joining Google in being somewhat pro-China.

Google worked with Huawei on a smart speaker product and with “Dragonfly” Google has been working on a censored search product for China. Companies like Microsoft and Google will play both sides as they know that’s the best way to remain highly profitable.

Satya Nadella might go down as one of the best CEOs in technology history as Microsoft has rejuvenated its culture and increased its profitability. So where do we stand today? The answer is: rock solid.

Microsoft’s board approved a new share-buyback program authorizing up to $40 billion in repurchases. The company’s market capitalization is a little more than $1 trillion. The stock has a one-year return of 23.2%, compared with 4.7% for the S&P 500.

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