Britain's competition watchdog said Wednesday it has dropped its review of Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI, saying it's satisfied that the deal doesn't need a closer investigation under the country's merger rules.
Microsoft announced two AI agents for sales that double as a competitive response to Salesforce in an area where both companies are placing big bets.
Britain's competition authority, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), said Wednesday that Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI doesn't qualify for investigation under the merger provisions of the U.K.'s Enterprise Act 2002, the country's anticompetitive practices law.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT ) Morgan Stanley TMT Conference March 4, 2025 11:30 AM ET Company Participants Amy Hood - Chief Financial Officer Conference Call Participants Keith Weiss - Morgan Stanley Keith Weiss Excellent. Thank you all for joining us this morning.
Microsoft shares have fallen recently along with other once-hot technology stocks in an unraveling of the artificial-intelligence trade — but Evercore ISI analysts aren't sure that Microsoft belongs among the tech carnage.
Microsoft's Dragon Copilot shows promise, but premium valuation and AI capacity constraints suggest waiting for better entry points in the rest of 2025.
Microsoft shares have underperformed, delivering -3% return versus the S&P 500's 18% over the past year, despite AI growth opportunities. The company has a wide-moat around its key businesses and faces limited competition. The value of Microsoft stake in OpenAI is expected to become clearer soon, which will make it easier for investors to take into account when valuing Microsoft shares.
As an income-focused investor, I take two different approaches to dividends: looking for relatively higher yielders but also looking for dividend growers, even if their yields aren't as high. Microsoft due to its sideways movement for a while now, offers an attractive valuation for a long-term investor. For dividend growth investors, MSFT's dividend growth rate has been impressive, with a 10.35% CAGR over the last decade, supported by strong earnings growth that is expected to continue.
Microsoft on Monday announced a new health-care AI assistant called Dragon Copilot that builds on its existing dictation and ambient listening solutions. The tool can draft documentation like clinical notes, referral letters and post-visit summaries.
Privately held defense stock Anduril Industries is shaking up the defense industry. Palmer Luckey, co-founder of the company, is on record saying it's "important" for Anduril to IPO, and, in fact, the company is "on a path to being a publicly traded company" after doubling its 2024 revenue to $1 billion.
Microsoft formed a “death cross” – a bearish chart pattern this week that's broadly seen as a sign of a continued decline ahead. A death cross is when a stock's 50-day MA slides below its 200-day MA.
Innovation is pouring out of the big technology companies. From hand-controlled augmented reality glasses at Meta Platforms, self-driving car commercialization at Alphabet, and robot-controlled warehouses at Amazon, these companies keep extending their technological superiority over the competition, laying the groundwork for future growth.