Monday, July 6, 2015

Seeking Alpha: Cloud Will Change Microsoft, But The Valuation Looks Interesting

Like IBM Corp. (NYSE:IBM), Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), and SAP AG (NYSE:SAP), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is looking at a major shift in the way it does business as the industry shifts away from discrete license-based software sales and toward the subscription-based "X as a service" model. Making matters more challenging for Microsoft is the company's heavy reliance on the PC ecosystem, its so far unconvincing device strategy, and its relatively poor history of adding value through acquisition.

The migration to service-based software is going to change Microsoft's model, but the company's cloud businesses (including Azure) seem to be on a good path today. It's very uncommon for winners/leaders of one generation to extend that leadership into the next generation, but even a lower level of assumed performance seems to support a value argument for Microsoft.

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Cloud Will Change Microsoft, But The Valuation Looks Interesting

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