| DON'T BUY | 27.910 | Don Lato | Was on the cutting edge for years and years but seem to have lost their way a little bit. Still a great company and generating revenues. Growing at a lot slower rate than some of their competitors. | 2008-08-13 | |
| SELL | 26.150 | Ross Healey | There will be a better chance to buy this company. He is standing on the sidelines right now. | 2008-07-15 | |
| BUY | 25.150 | John Zechner | Really cheap at these levels. Great company and great earnings story. Have an absolute whack of cash. | 2008-07-14 | |
| Comment | 25.450 | Laura Wallace | Back and forth with Yahoo (YHOO-Q). One of the strangest takeover battles she has ever seen. Very cheap on an earnings basis. Expect they will start to return more cash to the shareholders. Have some challenges with their Internet strategy. Probably a non-performer until the Yahoo situation is firmly resolved. | 2008-07-10 | |
| DON'T BUY | 28.240 | Alan Kral | Has gone through a tough time with the change in management. Vista launch was not as strong as hoped. Attempted unsuccessfully to acquire Yahoo (YHOO-Q). Not yet clear what they want to do. | 2008-06-12 | |
| DON'T BUY | 27.120 | Don Lato | Not a big fan of this one. Trades at a very low multiple and has lots of cash but they seem to keep shooting themselves in the foot. Their approach to Yahoo (YHOO-Q) hasn't worked so far. | 2008-06-11 | |
| Comment | 27.890 | David Baskin | Becoming like a utility. Has recurring revenue and will eventually have a utility type yield. | 2008-06-10 | |
| DON'T BUY | 27.800 | David Garrity | Any time a company of this size says they need to spend $45 billion to remake their business model, it raises questions as to how robust is their business. Their Vista product has not been very successful. | 2008-06-02 | |
| DON'T BUY | 29.930 | Gordon Reid | Lots of good choices in the US technology space. Company is obviously a huge successful one, a cash cow bringing in a tremendous amount of cash each year, but it is coming off a product that is becoming older and older technology. Desperately trying to move into the Internet age. Better opportunities such as Google (GOOG-Q), Cisco (CSCO-Q), Oracle (ORCL-Q) or Apple (AAPL-Q). | 2008-05-14 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 29.210 | Paul Thornton | (A Top Pick Nov 21/07. Down 13%.) Was not bound as much as other stocks during the Bear but it’s obviously not coming back either. Clearly the issue with Yahoo (YHOO-Q) is hanging over its head. Can't see any catalyst in the short run. Still a Hold for a few months and if it doesn't do anything, get rid of it. | 2008-05-07 | |
| BUY | 29.830 | Duncan Stewart | At the sub-$30 level, you want to take a look at this stock. About to introduce some virtualization software, which will allow them to steal some market share from VMware(VMW-N). Buy it under $30 and if it reaches $36, take some money off the table. | 2008-04-25 | |
| WATCH | 28.280 | Paul Thornton | They are in a situation where they are attempting a takeover and a lot of things are happening there. They are a high growth company now based on their earnings report over the last 3 or 4 quarters. If it starts to move over the $29 or $30 area he would be a buyer. | 2008-04-11 | |
| DON'T BUY | 28.890 | Don Lato | Fairly valued and would not rush out to buy it. They seem to be bungling the Yahoo transaction. | 2008-04-09 | |
| WAIT | 29.160 | Andrew Guy, CFA | A very cash generative business. Nice dividend yield of almost 2%. Not expensive at 15X next year's earnings. Attempting to acquire Yahoo (YAHOO-Q) and hedge funds are getting involved, creating some volatility, so there is no rush to get into this stock yet. | 2008-04-07 | |
| BUY | 29.160 | Pat Naccarato B.Math, MBA,CFA | Stock is down because they made a bid to acquire Yahoo (YHOO-Q). He believes the down side is close to $25 and low $40's on the upside. On a risk/reward, the upside is greater than the down side. | 2008-04-07 | |
| DON'T BUY | 28.630 | Gordon Reid | Once we move through this bear market, technology is often a leader coming out. There are a lot of great technology companies, but he is not sure this one would be at the top of his list. Growth rates have dropped. Acquisition of Yahoo (YHOO-Q) would be very risky. | 2008-03-12 | |
| TOP PICK | 28.420 | Laura Wallace | Has come off with all of the tech but also came off after they announced plans to acquire Yahoo (YHOO-Q). When they have not been the leader, they are prepared to pay money to get in to be a significant player. With this purchase, they are taking out the competition and will be a significant player in the search and online advertising business. Good solid earnings grower. | 2008-02-15 | |
| BUY | 32.200 | Laura Wallace | For a self-directed RRSP, this is the kind of a stock to have. The company is focused on returning more money to the shareholder. Their Xbox is doing well although it's a very competitive market and may not do as well a year from now. Good long-term play on the increasing use of technology on a global basis. | 2008-01-30 | |
| BUY | 33.250 | Paul Harris, CFA | Reported earnings better than expected. Will do well in the upgrade cycle. The Xbox business is going to do well for them. Has a great office product. Not trading at a huge multiple. Great balance sheet. Lots of cash. | 2008-01-24 | |
| Comment | 34.470 | Gordon Reid | Been doing fairly well for quite a long time and yet stock hasn't. Been in a trading range. Valuations were growing at about 10%-12% but multiples were too high. Takes a long time for multiples to come back to reality but thinks they have now done so. If he had to choose amongst technology, he has a world of choice and this one probably would not be his top one. | 2007-12-12 | |
| BUY | 32.920 | Peter Hofstra | Their office suites and Vista continue to do well and dominate the market. Have grown more than 15% in the most recent quarter and the stock does not reflect that. Dividend is growing. | 2007-12-03 | |
| BUY | 33.590 | David Baskin | This is a cash flow machine. Indications are that the dividend is going to keep on increasing and they are dedicated to get that money back to the shareholders. Because of concerns about the Cdn$ and US stocks in general and the effect of a possible recession, he sold his holdings. Thinks the current price is attractive. | 2007-11-29 | |
| TOP PICK | 34.230 | Paul Thornton | Had a big improvement in their earnings and sales growth in the last 3 quarters. There has been some very heavy buying come into the stock allowing the stock to clear a 7-year range. The stock is hanging in nicely. As long as it stays above $32 it has a very good chance of becoming a big leader in the next rally. | 2007-11-21 | |
| TOP PICK | 34.090 | Paul Thornton | Has had a nice jump in earnings growth in the last 3 quarters. Holding its ground close to its high in the $33-$34 range. Good fundamentals going with it. | 2007-11-16 | |
| BUY | 30.320 | Peter Hofstra | He likes the stock. It has been flat for a while. There is some concern that technology is moving away from Microsoft. However, Halo 3 and Office Suite have done well. The company has done well, they are well positioned good cash, good evaluation and aggressive with awarding shareholders. | 2007-10-16 | |
| WAIT | 27.810 | David Driscoll | Fair market value for the stock is probably around $35. Has over $30 billion in cash that can be distributed. Expect there will be a little bit more downdraft in the short term. | 2007-08-16 | |
| BUY | 30.800 | Brendan Caldwell | With the high Cdn$, this is a good time to make an entry. Chart looks like it is just beginning to break out to new highs. In Cdn$ terms you are buying it at a huge discount. | 2007-07-24 | |
| BUY | 29.870 | Peter Hofstra | Thinks conservatively it can get to $35. Forecasting 15% earnings growth. Growing dividends and buying back stock. | 2007-07-09 | |
| DON'T BUY | 30.220 | Jean-Francois Tardif | Had a huge run. Just launched its new Vista software. Have a lot of cash and keep buying back shares. Can't see a lot of upside in this one. | 2007-06-21 | |
| STRONG BUY | 29.620 | Charles Lannon | Started buying in 2005. Likes it. Vista sales have been strong and corporate units are strong. Moving into the Server market.
| 2007-06-07 | |
| DON'T BUY | 30.590 | Ross Healey | Has too much cash. Like a sumo wrestler in the Boston marathon.
Vista hasn't been well received.
Because it's fighting an uphill battle against the Canadian dollar and it has so much weight (which will slow the stock value changes) he wouldn't. | 2007-06-01 | |
| BUY | 29.100 | Pat Naccarato B.Math, MBA,CFA | Would focus on this for protection of capital. Almost $50 billion of cash and no debt recently. Generates about $1.5 billion cash per month. | 2007-04-26 | |
| BUY | 27.870 | John O'Connell, CFA | 10% growth is expected. Trades around 15 X next year's earnings. Big upgrade in software is taking place. Good price. | 2007-03-30 | |
| BUY | 28.270 | Peter Hofstra | Continues to have a very strong product roll out. Tons of cash. Buying back stock. Still quite a bit of upside. | 2007-03-22 | |
| DON'T BUY | 28.520 | Ron Meisels | Looking at the 200 day moving average, it shows a neutral stock. It bit of a jump up, which was based on some fundamental news, but is now back to normality. At this stage, there could be more profit taking. | 2007-03-21 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 28.980 | Jonathen Wellum, B. Comm, B. Sc | Getting close to its fair market value of $32-$33. It will continue to chug along, but wouldn't be a screaming buy. Looking for high single-digit, low double-digit growth. Consider buying on weakness. | 2007-02-09 | |
| BUY | 30.560 | Brian Acker, CA | Model price of $26.27, which is a negative 14% or 15% difference. | 2007-02-01 | |
| HOLD | 30.860 | Norman Levine | This is a possible investment for him. Stock has been acting very well since last summer. Have a few things going for them like the new Vista and the new office. | 2007-01-31 | |
| SELL | 30.700 | Ian Nakamoto | Not one of his favourite technology names. Prefers Cognos (CSN-T) and would switch from Microsoft to this. | 2007-01-11 | |
| BUY | 29.860 | Steve MacMillan | Valuation is attractive. Not as risky as some other high-tech stocks. Likes the cash flow and the balance sheet, but little concerned that they will be investing in their new platforms and not getting the returns in the shorter-term. | 2007-01-03 | |
| WAIT | 30.190 | Kenneth P. Norquay, CMT | Like watching paint dry. Going sideways and there’s no real trend. Question. Is it in an uptrend now? It is at its resistance point now. If it breaks through that point on big volume, then it’s going higher. | 2006-12-15 | |
| Comment | 30.070 | Ian Ainsworth | Unique in US corporations in that it only uses about 18% of its cash flow to maintain its business. Have so much cash that they will be paying out massive dividends. The opportunity with them comes from the upgrade of their desktop operations and operating systems. | 2006-12-14 | |
| BUY | 28.990 | Peter Hofstra | Probably worth mid-$30’s, so can see substantial upside. The new product releases are just starting to happen. | 2006-12-06 | |
| HOLD | 29.130 | Norman Levine | A big run because valuations got too cheap and they have had the release of Vista. Investors had been anticipating that and had moved the stock up already. New news is require to propel the stock from here. | 2006-12-05 | |
| BUY | 29.400 | Charles Lannon | Have the ability to grow at a rate in excess of GDP and is at a very attractive price. | 2006-11-17 | |
| DON'T BUY | 29.260 | Ian Ainsworth | With Vista rolling out, it’s the first opportunity there has been to show some traction. Only about 1% of PC’s will use Vista. | 2006-11-09 | |
| HOLD | 28.530 | Gavin Graham | Similar to a utility in that it grows low single-digits. Has a decent dividend. Gushing cash like you wouldn't believe. When Vista finally gets out there, there should be some growth. | 2006-10-30 | |
| DON'T BUY | 27.370 | Neil Wickham | A mature company with a lot of cash, but doesn't see it doing anything spectacular in terms of market performance or earnings growth. | 2006-10-03 | |
| DON'T BUY | 25.910 | Ian Nakamoto | Not quite certain where they are going to go next. Not a growth company. | 2006-09-11 | |
| BUY | 25.620 | Paul Harris, CFA | An interesting story right now. Coming out with many new products next year. Good opportunity for the stock to do well. Good price. | 2006-08-22 | |
| BUY | 24.620 | Paul Harris, CFA | Doing a share buyback. Likes the company at these levels. Has pulled back a fair bit but they have a lot of new products coming out in the New Year. Relatively cheap at these multiples. Nice dividend. | 2006-08-15 | |
| WEAK BUY | 24.440 | Brad Willock | Growth possibilities is limited, but it does have a monopoly position. Difficult to assess. Currently in a buyback position which will help support the shares. | 2006-08-09 | |
| DON'T BUY | 24.210 | Ross Healey | Doing buybacks. If they keep doing this, that would help keep the stock price up, but would rather that they paid the money out. If this is the best they can do, he would get out as this would continually reduce the book value. | 2006-08-03 | |
| DON'T BUY | 24.210 | Ian Nakamoto | If you're looking for a US investment, he would look somewhere else besides technology. Prefers Canadian companies. | 2006-08-03 | |
| DON'T BUY | 24.300 | Robert Floyd | Not a growth company. | 2006-08-02 | |
| BUY | 24.370 | David Driscoll | Buying at these levels as the company is worth a lot more if you break apart into its own pieces. Its growth rate is equal to its P/E. | 2006-07-26 | |
| BUY | 23.500 | Peter Hofstra | They are trying to balance the things they believe about the business. Have been buying back stock very rapidly and the share count is down by 5%. The PC business is a fairly mature franchise. They are making investments in new markets in order to grow. | 2006-07-10 | |
| BUY | 22.860 | John Zechner | Likes the valuation and the cash generation. Don't think they will ever dominate on the operating systems again. Limited growth because of their size. Good ability to generate cash. Gives cash back to the shareholders. | 2006-06-27 | |
| DON'T BUY | 22.070 | David Burrows | At a point in the business were if there is going to be a pickup in their growth rate, you should start to see it because of their new Vista product. Despite the fact that we've had a pretty good market for three years, the stock has not made an iota of gain. If you can't make it in a strong market, you tend to under perform in a weak market. | 2006-06-15 | |
| DON'T BUY | 22.650 | James Cole, BA, CFA | Regular dividend yield is about 1.5%. A great company with a great long-term track record. Trading at 19 X earnings for only 7% growth. | 2006-05-31 | |
| BUY | 23.500 | Howard Sutton | Has gotten beaten up with the delay of Vista, its next operating system. In the wireless area, with its operating system, don't underestimate them. He is buying more at this price. | 2006-05-24 | |
| DON'T BUY | 23.010 | Robert Floyd | Has a large defensive cash position. If you are looking for substantial growth, you won't get it out of this one. They are always trying to grow through acquisition, but you can only make so many acquisitions to create a change. | 2006-05-16 | |
| DON'T BUY | 23.620 | Ian Ainsworth | Has a hard time maintaining growth rates that are acceptable. Going into a product cycle right now which could give them a bit of a bump in the growth rate. | 2006-05-09 | |
| STRONG BUY | 23.730 | David Driscoll | Good top line growth and revenue growth was very good. Stock got hammered because of cost overruns. Spending more money today for future rewards down the road. Moving into other products that have higher margins. A deep discount purchase for long-term holders. You have to be patient. | 2006-05-08 | |
| BUY | 23.170 | Laura Wallace | Reported earnings which had gone up quite dramatically, but the stock dropped. Feels that the Vista is a delay, not an elimination. The company is well positioned with the launch of new products to ramp up earnings. | 2006-05-03 | |
| TOP PICK | 27.560 | David Driscoll | Likes it because Vista is about to come out. It will be the first one since Windows95. Businesses have a lot of cash that they are ready to earmark towards IT. Feels the stock is worth $35. | 2006-04-06 | |
| WAIT | 27.640 | Norman Levine | Has-been range bound for quite some time and he would wait until it breaks out on the upside before buying. This is more of a technical call as the fundamentals are good. | 2006-04-04 | |
| DON'T BUY | 27.230 | Paul Harris, CFA | Feels that this stock can get cheaper from here. They are not coming out with their products fast enough. They have a slew of products coming out in 2006/2007 which may help. Expensive. Would like to see it in the mid or low $20. | 2006-03-30 | |
| DON'T BUY | 26.390 | Richard Croft | Q: Which you buy a $30 call? A: He would be hesitant as Microsoft is a huge company that has had a difficult time on moving that stock on any basis. | 2006-02-13 | |
| TOP PICK | 26.940 | Laura Wallace | Had good earnings. The appeal is the stock price has been flat lined for five years but continues to have earnings growth at a double-digit pace. Management is recognising that they have to return some of that huge cash holdings to the shareholders. You are also in the midst of a new product cycle. | 2006-02-07 | |
| BUY | 26.970 | David Burrows | Of of the very large caps, this is one that you could look at here. They are just embarking on the largest new production cycle that they have ever embarked on on a number of different fronts. When it reached $28 it broke out technically. It won't be a rocket ship, but it will be a steady performer. Generates a tremendous amount of cash. | 2006-01-04 | |
| WEAK BUY | 26.390 | Norman Levine | Starting to warm up to this stock. The valuation is becoming more and more attractive. Sees growth ahead as they start to bring in new Windows and some other new products. If you're looking to put your money in the tech area, it is probably not a bad place to be. You won’t see any spectacular growth for a little while. | 2005-12-28 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 26.590 | Laura Wallace | A Top Pick Oct 19/05. Up 6.5%.) Introducing lots of new products over the next year. Seem to be making progress with the Xbox. The stock is cheap. Has been in a narrow trading range for five years. Expecting a special dividend. | 2005-12-22 | |
| BUY | 27.450 | John Zechner | Likes it at these prices. You can't buy it anymore for the 25/35% annual gain in earnings and stock price but it's a great cash generator which will grow at better than a 10% rate. | 2005-12-12 | |
| TOP PICK | 27.450 | Laura Wallace | Has been in a flat line for 5 years. As a result of being in a flat line and continuing to grow earnings, it is now quite reasonably priced at 18/19 X earnings. Also it’s releasing a slew of new products. Has started returning money to the shareholders and there is a possibility of a higher sustained dividend or a special one. | 2005-12-12 | |
| BUY | 28.010 | Jonathen Wellum, B. Comm, B. Sc | Have over $40 billion in cash. If they buy back about $20 billion a year, they are generating over $4 billion a quarter in cash; it's a very profitable company. You'll get an 8/10% performance on it. | 2005-12-02 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 27.910 | Richard Croft | (A Top Pick Aug 3/05. Up 3%.) This was to Buy a $27.50 October Call Option. | 2005-11-22 | |
| WEAK BUY | 27.740 | Ian Ainsworth | Like some of the big technology companies, recovering from a growth dilemma. Well positioned, generating a lot of cash, great margins but no growth. You need to see some new products. There are some new products coming out that may help for a short term. If their Xbox does not turn out as well as expected, it could be a negative. | 2005-11-16 | |
| TOP PICK | 26.960 | Howard Sutton | This is for a more defensive, more moderate play. Pays a 1.3% yield. 2006 is a big product launch year for them. Feels the growth is going to go up from 8% to about 12%. | 2005-11-09 | |
| DON'T BUY | 24.850 | Robert McWhirter | Has a monopoly on operating systems and as a result they are taking the cash and plowing it back into a ton of other things. Ranks poorly in the database. Better opportunities elsewhere. | 2005-10-27 | |
| BUY | 25.030 | Norman Levine | On his radar screen and is one he is potentially thinking of owning. Torn by the fact that they are the biggest and probably the best software company, but they are so big that to show any incremental growth they either have to make a major acquisition or come out with a great new product. Valuation has become far more attractive. | 2005-10-25 | |
| TOP PICK | 25.030 | John Sinkins, CFA | Everything looks good for it. They are growing revenues at 10/12% every year. Generates tons of free cash flow. Has fantastic margins. A couple of big product launches including the XBox 360. In late 2006, we should get Microsoft Vista, their latest operating upgrade. | 2005-10-25 | |
| DON'T BUY | 24.790 | Brian Acker, CA | Its model price has been going down and is $23.54 which is a 6% negative differential. | 2005-10-20 | |
| TOP PICK | 25.090 | Laura Wallace | One of those companies that is in transition phase from when it was a market high growth darling to a more reasonable growth of 15% a year. Has $38 billion of cash on the balance sheet. Has the ability to pay a special dividend or buy back more stock. Trades at about 17 X earnings which is pretty reasonable value. | 2005-10-19 | |
| TOP PICK | 25.500 | Don Vialoux | Lots of new products coming out next year (the new Xbox, the new windows, new office". Seasonability is good. Technically good. | 2005-10-03 | |
| BUY | 25.670 | Larry Berman CFA, CMT, CTA | Pulling back to some support levels now. Proabably a great short term buying opportunity. A good defensive stock as they have so much cash it looks like a bank. | 2005-09-28 | |
| DON'T BUY | 25.340 | David Burrows | Stock went up about a month ago on the view that there could be a growth in the revenue rate as they launched a bunch of new products. Has now fallen back. Has not participated very well in this bull market. | 2005-09-22 | |
| DON'T BUY | 26.000 | Paul Harris, CFA | Has been a difficult story and the whole tech sector is expensive. This company has promised a lot, but has not been able to deliver which has really hurt the company. Still have to deliver on their development side and they have a lot of competition breathing down their necks. Not cheap. | 2005-09-19 | |
| BUY | 27.380 | Brad Willock | Management is very focused on cost cutting and they have a new product rollout in the last half of this year. This will be a 2006 story. Could grow its revenue by about 10% in thnext couple or three years. A lot of cash and expects increased dividends. | 2005-08-31 | |
| BUY | 26.910 | Peter Hofstra | If you get it at fair value, you get a 9/10% return. Have given a very bold forcast for their coming fiscal year and are really looking at double digit growth. Doesn't expect a special dividend, but a lot more in share buy-back. | 2005-08-22 | |
| DON'T BUY | 26.950 | Jean-Francois Tardif | Likes companies that will grow substantially, but this has become so big that it will be tough going forward to grow substantially. Have lots of cash and are generating free cash flow. If the X Box does well over the next 6 months the stock could do well. Doesn't see much upside in the stock. | 2005-08-17 | |
| DON'T BUY | 27.320 | Brian Acker, CA | His model price is $26.60 which is a negative 2% differential. | 2005-08-04 | |
| TOP PICK | 27.250 | Richard Croft | Speculation is that they are going to give one of the special dividends again. Buy a $27.50 October Call Option. If he's right the stock will probably pop to $30. | 2005-08-03 | |
| BUY | 25.690 | Laura Wallace | Looking very closely at this one right now. Looks reasonable. The problem is the huge cash balance and what are they going to do with it. | 2005-07-25 | |
| SELL | 25.660 | David Burrows | Its best days were probably in the past. If a company's share price doesn't participate in a market rally, you should be looking elsewhere. Growth stocks are starting to perform a little bit better, but this stock is not. | 2005-07-13 | |
| HOLD | 25.370 | Bill Carrigan | Had the big run up through the 80's & 90's. Since 2000, flat. Trying to reinvent itself. Feels it's going somewhere with the new convergance. Making deals with other parties. With the large consolidation that it's had, it usually indicates a breakout. | 2005-06-06 | |
| DON'T BUY | 26.070 | Ian Ainsworth | Good company, but not a growth company. In the long term, when they take advantage with their relationship with SAP (SAP-N) they can move further into the enterprise. There are faster growing situations that can be invested in. | 2005-05-27 | |
| BUY | 24.990 | Bill Carrigan | Looks interesting. Had 5 years of support at $24. If we are to get a shift in leadership from the commodity into the new economy/technology, Microsoft has to participate. If it breaks through the support level, get out. | 2005-04-27 | |
| HOLD | 25.310 | John Zechner | Hasn't done much lately. Paid out a gigantic dividend. Generates massive amounts of cash. Not a growth stock. | 2005-03-09 | |
| BUY | 25.480 | Peter Hofstra | History of free cash flow and return on equity is what tells you if a stock is good to own. Microsoft grossly outperforms Apple (AAPL-Q) both in stock as well as the underlying earnings. Provides a better long term investment. | 2005-02-21 | |
Experts that have talked about Microsoft
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