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| DON'T BUY | 28.970 | Gordon Reid | Going through a pretty healthy product cycle with their Windows 7. This is helping their earnings. Over the last decade, nothing has really happened with their stock price yet their earnings have doubled. Prefers other companies in the tech area. | 2010-03-10 | |
| WAIT | 28.670 | Ron Meisels | Is below the 50 day moving average but not the 200. Will probably have to wait until next January for it to break out. | 2010-03-02 | |
| TOP PICK | 28.969 | Paul Harris, CFA | Windows 7 has had very good reviews. They are coming out with more and more products in 2010. Vista was a bad product for them. They have no debt and throw off tones of free cash. A growth spurt could be quite substantial. | 2010-02-18 | |
| DON'T BUY | 28.590 | Gordon Reid | Earnings have doubled in the last decade, but prospects for growth have gone. | 2010-02-17 | |
| DON'T BUY | 27.990 | Don Lato | Not a huge fan of this stock. Looks very cheap on the surface creating at around 14X earnings and stripping out the cash you get it down to a round 12 or 13 times earnings. Feel the company is being attacked on all fronts and hasn't responded as well as he would like. | 2010-02-10 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 28.630 | Brian Acker, CA | (A Top Pick Feb 24/09. Up 67.84%.) | 2010-02-03 | |
| TOP PICK | 28.410 | John Zechner | As well positioned as we have seen them for the last 10+ years. Windows 7 is a winner and is leading to a refresh product cycle. Have generated a mountain of cash. Only trading at about 11X forward earnings. | 2010-02-01 | |
| BUY on WEAKNESS | 28.180 | Jim Huang | Not a bad name if you are looking for income and growth. This is the dominant force in operating systems and productivity software. Windows 7 is driving the great earnings. Have their fingers in a lot of pies and they have great software. 2% yield and have a lot of cash. | 2010-01-29 | |
| PAST TOP PICK | 29.160 | Colin Stewart | (A Top Pick May 12/09. Up 47.7%.) Continuing to do very well especially with their launch of Windows 7. Expect people will be upgrading to the new software. | 2010-01-28 | |
| TOP PICK | 29.500 | Charles Lannon | In the mist of benefiting from a structural reset in margins through cost cutting. Thinks it has plenty of room to run. Shares are worth high $30s. It doubled earnings over the last 5 years. Risk/reward tradeoff is compelling. | 2010-01-26 | |
| TOP PICK | 30.860 | Paul Harris, CFA | Windows 7 had good reviews and will be coming out with a lot of products over the next year. 1.6% yield. Trades at 16-17 times earnings. Great potential for good upgrades in the earnings. | 2010-01-18 | |
| TOP PICK | 29.870 | Paul Harris, CFA | 7.9 free cash flow yield along with a dividend yield. Windows 7 is working out and thinks corporations will be moving to this. Have new products coming out. Trading at one of the lowest multiples ever. Tons of cash. Worth $40. | 2009-12-10 | |
| BUY | 29.620 | Richard Croft | Caller: January/2011 $35 Call. Answer: This is a pretty bullish position. He suspects this is probably trading around $1 so that would be all you are risking. LEAPs (Long Term Equity Anticipation unit) tend to be under priced relative to the associated move on the underlying stock. If you're really bullish on this, this is probably a good way to play it. | 2009-11-20 | |
| DON'T BUY | 29.120 | Gordon Reid | Has lost its innovative edge in the last few years. Prefers others in the technology space. | 2009-11-11 | |
| TOP PICK | 27.530 | Paul Harris, CFA | Thinks it is a cheap stock. They have a bunch of products coming out over the next little while. You are going to be able to tell that they are a growth company in the next 6-8 months. Windows 7 will get a great reception. A very different company than two years ago. Everyone has this massive light on Google and no one likes this one. | 2009-11-03 | |
| BUY | 28.680 | Ross Healy | (Market Call Minute.) Looks like it could go higher. Windows7 looks like an interesting product. | 2009-10-26 | |
| DON'T BUY | 26.580 | Don Lato | Not a stock they have liked nor will like for the foreseeable future. Revenue from windows 7 will not change it. It’s lost its way through lack of innovation. | 2009-10-21 | |
| TOP PICK | 25.670 | Paul Harris, CFA | Very cheap story at 15X earnings. Windows7 is coming out this month and Office is coming out in the new year. Market is placing zero value on their online services. | 2009-10-08 | |
| HOLD | 24.780 | Gordon Reid | One of the great companies of our generation. The law of big numbers is certainly a big issue with it. They are a cash machine, but the market wants growth. No prospects for growth so multiple is dropping. | 2009-09-09 | |
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| TOP PICK | 24.000 | Paul Harris, CFA | Huge product cycle coming out over the next 6 month. New office product coming out in new year. Vista was a terrible product and they learned from that. Very competitive. It’s cheap. | 2009-09-01 | |
| DON'T BUY | 23.250 | Steven Conville | (Market Minute) Disappointed in. They did a disappointing job in their latest acquisitions. | 2009-08-17 | |
| DON'T BUY | 23.250 | Steven Conville | (Market Minute) Disappointed in. They did a disappointing job in their latest acquisitions. | 2009-08-17 | |
| DON'T BUY | 23.810 | Don Lato | Great company but not enough of a catalyst to move the stock. Still struggling to find its way and getting left further and further behind. | 2009-08-05 | |
| WATCH | 23.800 | Brett Hryb | Acquiring Yahoo and not having to give up a lot for it. Coming up with the launch of Windows7 in October and there is a pent-up demand for a new operating system that won't be reflected until 2010-2011. Earnings were disappointing. | 2009-07-29 | |
| TOP PICK | 23.110 | Karl Berger | Nice upgrade to their product suite is coming. Changing mix a little to become more oriented to the online community. Early success of their Bing search engine may suggest a challenge to Google (GOOG-Q). Any growth in the economy over the next little while will help push this along. Looks cheap relative to the S&P. | 2009-07-14 | |
| BUY | 22.530 | Gavin Graham | Multinational company that has operations everywhere. Has been a dreadful stock over the last 10 years but churns out cash like anything. Triple A borrower. It is the utility on the operating systems of PCs. Coming out with a new edition which sounds quite good. | 2009-07-07 | |
| TOP PICK | 23.370 | Paul Harris, CFA | Really cheap at 11X earnings. Great yield. Fantastic balance sheet. $30 billion in cash and tons of free cash flow. Windows7 is coming out and has great positive response and thinks there will be a good upgrade cycle on this. There's also a new Microsoft Office coming out in 2010. | 2009-07-02 | |
| TOP PICK | 23.330 | Charles Lannon | Despite being the largest software company globally it is still growing at an impressive clip. Pristine balance sheet with $30 billion in cash. Generates $350 million cash a week. Has a very attractive suite of new offerings coming up in the next 12 months. | 2009-06-12 | |
| BUY | 22.140 | Michael Yoshikami | Has been languishing for quite some time. Have 2 things that are possibly trigger points for the stock to move forward. 1) Their Xbox franchise is getting to a point where it is just about to break even. 2) There is a new operating system coming out in October (Windows 7) that will replace the Vista. It has gotten very positive reviews. | 2009-06-05 | |
| Comment | 21.830 | Matthew McCall | Not a big fan of this. Growth is not there. Thinks it could run to the mid-$20’s and you should get out of it at that time. Use a stoploss of $20. | 2009-06-04 | |
| TOP PICK | 20.450 | Paul Harris, CFA | Probably trading at its lowest PE since it became public. Trading at about 10X earnings. Very low expectations for earnings growth over the next little while. Windows 7 will be coming out and that is positive. Almost 3% yield. | 2009-05-28 | |
| TOP PICK | 20.380 | Karl Berger | One of the only companies with an AAA rating in the US. Just raised a reasonably significant amount of cash at incredibly cheap rates so their balance sheet is in excellent shape. Have a number of new product releases coming out over the next 12 to 18 months. | 2009-05-20 | |
| BUY | 20.220 | Ara Nalbandian | Just offered a $4 billion 30-year debt offering at 1% above treasuries. This will allow them to buy back their stock or make accretive acquisitions. | 2009-05-15 | |
| TOP PICK | 19.890 | Colin Stewart | Has been finding greater value in some of the larger cap, more stable names. Very stable recurring revenue base. Significant international growth opportunities. Trades at about 11X earnings and has $18 billion net cash on its balance sheet. | 2009-05-12 | |
| HOLD | 19.790 | Norman Levine | Has been a laggard in the tech sector. Sales growth is not up to what it could be. Has been losing market share to the Apple operating system. There is a potential to become better with their prospective new operating system. 2.6% yield. | 2009-05-06 | |
| SELL | 19.790 | Gordon Reid | With their operating system, they are being left behind. They will continue to do well on the cash they are spinning off but the growth days are behind them. | 2009-05-06 | |
| BUY | 19.350 | David Baskin | Market Call Minute. Like a utility but recurring revenue from existing suit of products. Expect dividend to rise. | 2009-04-14 | |
| Comment | 17.480 | David Burrows | More like a utility than a growth stock. Will do okay if the market goes higher. Software group is strong and it's one he likes but you can be really choosy at this point. He prefers BMC Software (BMC-N) and Sybase (SY-N). (Sybase grew its revenue by 28% last quarter and have very strong growth.) | 2009-03-30 | |
| BUY | 18.330 | Gavin Graham | 50% profit margins and selling for 10X PE. 3% dividend. The utility on the operating systems for PCs. Rock solid balance sheet. Will be a survivor. Will be a very good earner for you going forward. | 2009-03-23 | |
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| BUY | 17.060 | Michael Yoshikami | Tech stocks have held up fairly well and he thinks their prospects are pretty good. The one thing that will help them in their fight against Apple (AAPL-Q) is their new operating system that will replace Vista and put them back on the map. Xbox still has a dominant place in the industry and is still growing, | 2009-03-20 | |
| HOLD | 17.110 | Robert McWhirter | (Market Call Minute.) Cheap. Subject to the market outlook. Still facing a lot of challenges with free software. | 2009-03-11 | |
| DON'T BUY | 16.480 | Don Vialoux | (Market Call Minute.) Trend is distinctly on the downside. Seasonality is negative between now and October. | 2009-03-10 | |
| BUY | 16.120 | Laura Wallace | Disappointing performer, in part because of the debacle with Yahoo (YHOO-Q). Certainly need something on the search side and expects that they will. Cheap on cash flow/earnings so she thinks it is nearing a bottom. Expects it will return more cash to shareholders. | 2009-03-04 | |
| TOP PICK | 17.170 | Brian Acker, CA | $23.31 is the model price, a 35% positive differential. Have $40 billion in cash and no debt. Yielding 3%. | 2009-02-24 | |
| BUY | 17.910 | David Burrows | Likes software. Great recurring revenue line. Would prefer something with higher growth such as Oracle (ORCL-Q). Doesn't see how you will get hurt in this stock. If you are looking for something that will participate when things get better, this will. | 2009-02-19 | |
| Comment | 17.110 | Jim Huang | Just reported weak numbers and refused to give out guidance in cutting 5000 jobs. Large cash balance. Would consider at $14-$15. | 2009-01-22 | |
| WEAK BUY | 20.520 | Jeff Parent | Formed a bit of a consolidation range between $18 and $21. If it breaks above $21, it could go up another $4. | 2009-01-05 | |
| BUY | 20.610 | Ron Ianieri | A covered call strategy would be more practical. He would use a stock replacement option instead of the stock. Sell your front month at the money or slightly out of the money Call, month in and month out. This company might have a little downside left in it. | 2008-12-10 | |
| Comment | 20.060 | Charles Bobrinskoy | Doesn't think it will get together with Yahoo (YHOO-Q). Yahoo management behaviour during the whole Microsoft bid was appalling bad. | 2008-11-14 | |
| DON'T BUY | 20.300 | Gordon Reid | Very successful company over the years but they really are living on past glories. Producing a lot of cash but doesn't seem to be able to come up with a home run. There are a lot of companies he would rather own in the technology space. | 2008-11-12 | |
| Comment | 24.720 | Duncan Stewart | Microsoft (MSFT-Q), Cisco (CSCO-Q) and Intel (INTC-Q) are probably going to weather the downturn relatively well. They are all effectively utilities and have significantly free cash flows with little or no debt. | 2008-10-20 | |
| SELL | 21.500 | Jeff Parent | This stock has been doing nothing for a very long time. May bounce back up to $24. | 2008-10-10 | |
| Comment | 25.990 | Marty Whitman | Cash is well in excess of all book liabilities. He likes to get in at 10x peak earnings or less. | 2008-09-16 | |
| WEAK BUY | 26.120 | David Burrows | Likes US large-cap stocks right now and likes the software sector. Most of these companies generate an enormous amount of cash and need virtually no financing. Earnings multiples have come down a ton over the last 8 years. Think you could probably make money on this one. Given a choice, he would rather own Symantic (SYMC-Q) or Sybase (SY-N) but you will probably be okay in this one. | 2008-09-08 | |
| BUY | 27.840 | Paul Larson | Have such a fantastic core business that anything acquired is dilutive. The core Windows and Office Franchise continues to generate well over $1 billion in free cash flow every month. Have over $30 billion on the cash sheet waiting to be deployed. Trades at it free cash flow yield of close to 8%. | 2008-08-22 | |
| 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 Healy | 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 | |
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| DON'T BUY | 28.240 | Alan Kral , CFA, CIC | 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 | 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 | |
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| 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 Healy | 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 | 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 | |
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| 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 |
