Despite the recent massive tech sell-off, my conviction for $Microsoft(MSFT)$remains unwavered.
Microsoft's recent Q3 earnings in late April was stellar and proved that it is not just a leader,but a dominant one as it continues to innovate. Key highlights of the earnings are as follow:
· Revenue was $49.4 billion and increased 18% YoY
· Operating income was $20.4 billion and increased YoY
· Net income was $16.7 billion and increased 8% YoY
· EPS was $2.22 and increased 9% YoY
Most notably, its revenue in Intelligent Cloud was up 26%, of which Azure cloud services clocked a revenue growth of over 46%. With most companies adopting a cloud-first for scalability and flexibility, demand for Microsoft's Azure will remain robust as it continues to contest for the leader In cloud services.
The other segments such as Personal Computing, Productivity and Business Process have exhibited steady growth of at least 10%. The expected increase in prices for some of these subscriptions will drive higher revenue and operating margins as these essential services are relatively price inelastic.
The proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, if approved, will be a game changer in Microsoft's quest to be the no. 1 gaming provider as well as its venture into the metaverse. Even without the acquisition, Microsoft has continued to win over the market share from Sony.
Its target price is in the range of $300s, and with the recent sell-off implies that there is anupside of at least 15-20%.
While Microsoft is a leader with strong economic moat that will thrive even in an inflationary environment, it cannot avoid the impact from the tech sell-off caused by persistent fears of additional rate hikes and imminent recession.
For those who are already vested in Microsoft, hang in tight and look for the next opportunity to dollar cost average into this fantastic company. As for those who do not have Microsoft in their portfolio, do keep it in your watchlist.
May all fellow Tiger friends stay strong amid this volatility! [Victory]
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