The main activity of the corporation is the creation of operating systems and other software. IBM was founded in 1911. Its creators were Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Nowadays, the company has expanded significantly. The corporation is engaged in the creation and maintenance of cloud technologies, the development of computer games and develops projects related to artificial intelligence.
The main product of the corporation is the world-famous Windows operating system. The company is also a developer of the office suite MS Office. It owns the Bing search engine, the Xbox gaming platform, and the One cloud service. The company bought many promising projects. Among them, the Skype voice service and the professional social network Linkedln.
Satya Nadella currently holds the position of Microsoft CEO. Previously, the company was led by Steve Ballmer, and even earlier – Bill Gates. The current leader has significantly changed the current business model of the corporation. Now Microsoft is more focused on providing services than on electronic systems. For example, MS Office has evolved into a paid subscription system. The company also abandoned the Windows Phone system, as it was losing the competition between iOS and Android.
Microsoft shares added significantly in value in 2014. They grew by 260%. In 2019, the company’s market capitalization reached USD 1 trillion. Most investors perceive the shares of this company as a cyclical asset. They are characterized by steady growth during periods of economic stability, and a decrease in value during times of crisis. Most companies from the IT sector possess these properties.
Over the past five years, the corporation has dramatically diversified its business. Microsoft is no longer a pure technology company. It earns on a variety of projects – this significantly increased financial stability. Microsoft securities holders regularly receive dividends, even in times of crisis.
The changes that affected the company in 2014 made it more stable. In this regard, Microsoft is significantly different from other IT corporations. It regularly pays dividends, unlike other technology companies that direct all free profits to business development. The corporation has been making payments to investors since 2004. The amount of dividends increases every year. In the first quarter of 2019, shareholders received USD 0.46 per share. This is a little money, but there are prospects that this figure will gradually grow.
From 2004 to 2019, quarterly dividends increased from USD 0.08 to USD 0.46. Over 15 years, the amount raised by 475%. Microsoft continued to make payments even during the crisis from 2007 to 2011. At the same time, the number of payments was continually increasing. Note that most IT corporations did not make payments to shareholders during this period.
To trade Microsoft stocks, you must apply the standard rules of money management. You should not risk in one transaction the amount that exceeds 5% of your deposit. We also recommend that you always use pending Stop-Loss and Take-Profit orders. They will allow you to reduce potential costs and fix profit on time.