Billionaire George Soros, who knows a thing or two about how to make a buck, likes Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), a lot. In fact, he's doubled his stake in the world's largest software maker.
Soros reported owning 415,497 shares of Microsoft as of March 31 from a previously disclosed stake of 198,075 shares.
This is an interesting contrarian bet.
Analysts aren't expecting on average Microsoft's shares to hit $33.88 over the next 12 months, according to Thomson Financial. They currently traded at about $31.
Wall Street is concerned that the billions Microsoft is spending to catch up with Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) in search will depress profits. There are also rumors about huge multi-billion acquisitions including Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO).
So what does Soros see that others don't?
I don't know the answer to the question but it's important to remember that sentiment on tech stocks varies between irrational exuberance and cataclysmic doom. The reality is rarely that cut and dry, which is something savvy investors such as Soros understand very well.
Soros isn't bullish on every tech company.
He's cut or dropped his stakes in Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL), Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) and eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), according to Reuters.
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