This post was written by Minyanville contributor Sean Udall.
Professor Udall,
I don't know much about the fundamentals of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), but I have been watching it trade for the past few months and that is one stock that, simply from the way it is trading, looks like it is in trouble. What are your thoughts?
-- Jessica
Jessica,
It's not a short; Microsoft is losing share on many fronts quite rapidly, and I've talked extensively on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) share take on both hardware and software. Also, Linux is hitting them. The MSFT new Office Suite is the worst major product release I've ever seen from them, and most view Vista as pretty tarnished as well.
All this is leaving the door wide open for Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Google docs and AAPL on many fronts. It's also not hurting Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL), Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) or International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), as all of those companies have been much more active on the M&A front (FYI -- IBM looks like a buy here as well, but I was hoping for something under $95 again).
So Jessica, very astute observation.
Simply, MSFT needs to embrace the IBM model and start buying growth rapidly. They still have time to do that. Assuming they get with it and attack the current market while they can still find good value and receptivity to white knight deals.
--Sean
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