Latest news with #MSFT
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Microsoft, Antigen Security Partner to Cut Cyber Insurance Costs
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the best software infrastructure stocks to invest in. On June 26, Antigen Security, LLC, announced a new partner program with Microsoft, establishing Antigen as one of Microsoft's Top 150 Managed Partners. The collaboration allows customers utilizing Microsoft 365 E3/E5 Security and Microsoft Azure Security to achieve an average of 20% to 60% savings on their cyber insurance premiums. These savings are realized when Microsoft's security suite is integrated into a risk-informed and standards-aligned cyber risk management strategy. The partnership uses Antigen's expertise in cyber liability insurance underwriting and claims research alongside Microsoft's advanced security products. Antigen's risk management approach adheres to industry-leading frameworks and ensures a coverage strategy that promotes 'Resilience by Design'. A development team working together to create the next version of Windows. As a Top 150 Managed Partner, Antigen will provide specialized training, marketing support, and incentives to various Microsoft channel partners. Antigen is also introducing 4 dedicated landing pages tailored for different audiences: New Microsoft Partners, Existing Microsoft Partners, New Microsoft Customers, and Existing Microsoft Customers. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) develops and supports software, services, devices, and solutions. While we acknowledge the potential of MSFT as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen. Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten
Globe and Mail
16 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Can Microsoft Join the $4 Trillion Club in 2025?
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) had a market capitalization of $3.695 trillion as of Friday morning. That means its stock only needs to climb by another 8.3% for the company to become the founding member of the $4 trillion club, which I think is a very strong possibility by the end of 2025 (although Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) with its $3.835 trillion market cap could get there first). Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the primary driver of Microsoft's increasing value over the last couple of years. The company is approaching this lucrative opportunity from several different angles, and it has already become an industry leader in the software and cloud segments. Here's why AI could be Microsoft's ticket to a $4 trillion valuation this year. Microsoft has a diverse AI product portfolio Microsoft has invested around $14 billion in ChatGPT creator OpenAI since 2019, and it has combined the start-up's industry-leading AI models with its own to create the Copilot virtual assistant. Copilot is accessible for free in some of Microsoft's flagship software (like Windows, Edge, and Bing), but it's also available as a paid tool in several products, like the following: 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint): Enterprises can add Copilot for an additional monthly subscription fee to boost the productivity of their employees. In the fiscal 2025 third quarter (ended March 31), Microsoft said the number of organizations using Copilot for 365 tripled year over year to the hundreds of thousands. Copilot Studio: This platform allows enterprises to create custom AI agents and deploy them into the software applications they use each day to boost productivity, and it already has over 230,000 customers. Dragon Copilot: This is a solution for the healthcare industry, which can autonomously transcribe conversations between doctors and their patients, rapidly generate referral letters, and even summarize diagnosis evidence to help improve outcomes. But Copilot isn't the only revenue-generating AI product in Microsoft's portfolio because the company operates one of the world's largest cloud computing platforms called Azure, which now offers a suite of AI products and services under the Azure AI banner. Azure AI leases state-of-the-art data center infrastructure to businesses, which is fitted with the latest AI chips from suppliers like Nvidia. It also offers access to ready-made large language models (LLMs) from the likes of OpenAI, which developers can use to accelerate their AI software projects. AI is quickly becoming the driving force behind Azure Azure is often the fastest-growing part of Microsoft's entire organization, but it might have lost that title recently if not for Azure AI. A little less than two years ago, Azure AI accounted for just five percentage points of Azure's quarterly revenue growth. In the recent fiscal 2025 third quarter, it represented 16 percentage points, meaning it accounted for almost half of Azure's overall growth. The contribution from Azure AI is likely to increase further from here because Microsoft CFO Amy Hood says the segment has a staggering $315 billion order backlog from AI customers who are waiting for more data center capacity to come online. Microsoft is building more data centers as fast as it can, and it opened new ones in 10 different countries during the last quarter alone. In fact, the company is on track to have spent over $80 billion building AI infrastructure during fiscal 2025, which ends on June 30. Management's guidance suggests that the figure is likely to grow in fiscal 2026, which isn't a surprise, given the size of the opportunity ahead. Can Microsoft join the $4 trillion club in 2025? Based on Microsoft's trailing 12-month earnings per share (EPS), its stock is trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 38.2. That's 14% higher than its five-year average of 33.4, which suggests investors are willing to pay a premium for the stock at the moment: Data by YCharts. Microsoft's fiscal year 2026 begins on July 1, and Wall Street's consensus estimate (provided by Yahoo! Finance) suggests the company could deliver $15.14 in EPS, which would represent growth of over 13%. That places its stock at a forward P/E ratio of 32.6. That means Microsoft stock would have to climb by around 17% over the next 12 months in order to maintain its current P/E ratio of 38.2, which is a fair assumption given the strength of its AI business. If the company delivers strong earnings during the first two quarters of fiscal 2026 (which fall in calendar year 2025), then investors might start pricing in the full-year result early -- especially considering that the stock market is a forward-looking machine. In other words, it's possible Microsoft stock will deliver the majority of that 17% in potential upside in the next six months or so. Remember, it only needs a gain of 8.3% for the company's valuation to hit $4 trillion, so it could certainly achieve the milestone before 2025 is over. Should you invest $1,000 in Microsoft right now? Before you buy stock in Microsoft, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Microsoft wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $704,676!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $950,198!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to175%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 23, 2025
Business Insider
20 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
M&A News: OpenAI Acqui-Hires Crossing Minds amid Meta Poaching Spree
Microsoft-backed OpenAI (MSFT) has hired the entire team from Crossing Minds, which is a startup that has raised $13.5 million in funding (according to TechCrunch) to build AI recommendation tools for online shopping platforms. Crossing Minds announced the news on its website by stating that it was excited to join OpenAI and support its mission to make artificial general intelligence helpful for everyone. The team said it's eager to learn, contribute, and help shape the future of AI together with OpenAI. Confident Investing Starts Here: It is worth noting that this move is considered an 'acqui-hire.' This means that OpenAI mainly acquired the startup in order to bring in its talented team. The timing is notable, as OpenAI has recently seen some of its researchers leave for rival companies, especially Meta Platforms (META), which is aggressively pushing to become the leader in the AI market. Indeed, Meta has hired several researchers from OpenAI to work on its 'superintelligence' projects. According to The Wall Street Journal, Meta brought in Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai, who helped start OpenAI's Zurich office last year. In a separate report, TechCrunch also revealed that Meta hired OpenAI researcher Trapit Bansal to focus on building better reasoning models. These moves highlight the increasing competition among tech giants to secure top AI talent. Is MSFT Stock a Buy? Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on MSFT stock based on 30 Buys and five Holds assigned in the last three months. Furthermore, the average MSFT price target of $521.41 per share implies 5.3% upside potential.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How Microsoft's Products Keep Users Coming Back
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the Best Wide Moat Dividend Stocks to Invest in. A development team working together to create the next version of Windows. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has a diverse range of technology operations, including cloud computing, Microsoft Office 365, gaming, LinkedIn, search, advertising, and more. A key advantage for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is that many of these areas involve services rather than physical products, making them less vulnerable to tariffs. This has likely contributed to the company's strong showing in 2025. The stock has surged by over 17% since the start of the year. However, a major driver of its success is Azure, which is part of its cloud segment. Azure plays a central role in powering Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)'s artificial intelligence capabilities and overall tech strategy. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) retains its users by prioritizing customer needs, fostering innovation, and delivering strong, consistent user experiences across its wide range of products. The company uses approaches such as tailoring solutions to individual needs, applying design thinking in product creation, and regularly updating its offerings based on user feedback. By serving both individual consumers and large businesses, Microsoft strengthens its competitive edge through a broad and differentiated product lineup. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) offers a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.68%, as of June 24. The company has raised its dividends for 20 consecutive years. While we acknowledge the potential of MSFT as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: and . Disclosure. None.
Business Insider
a day ago
- Business
- Business Insider
OpenAI starts renting Google AI chips to power ChatGPT, Information reportst
Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI, one of the globe's largest customers of Nvidia (NVDA) AI chips, has recently started renting Google's (GOOGL) AI chips to power ChatGPT and other products, The Information's Anissa Gardizy and Qianer Liu report, citing a person who is involved in the arrangement. The move marks the first time OpenAI has used non-Nvidia semis in a meaningful way, the authors note. Confident Investing Starts Here:
