Marek Fuchs listened in to Microsoft’s earning call, and liked what he heard:
Here’s the deal: Microsoft’s business division saw an 8% increase in revenues. That’s not chicken feed. But it was–and this is key–especially gratifying to the company, considering the difficult year-over-year comparisons. In last year’s first quarter, Microsoft introduced a new version of Microsoft Office. Many business customers waited to buy in that first quarter, pumping up the numbers. This year, Microsoft beat those pumped up numbers by a nice length.
That is nice. And this Apple fanboy can tell you that Microsoft isn’t going away any time soon. Windows and Office are fully entrenched in IT departments around the world, and that’s not going to change. They’re also MS’s biggest profit centers. Apple isn’t going to encroach on that… maybe ever.
Explosive growth is where MS stumbles, and will stumble. Mobile and tablets are the big growth areas, and MS just refuses to compete. Windows Phone 7.5 Mango Human Hand and Ear Edition for Home is late to the party and struggling to get noticed. And then there’s Steve Ballmer’s insistence that a Windows tablet run full-fledged Windows 8. On a tablet! iPad 3 will be halfway through its lifecycle before MS gets out its first competitor.
And that competitor will prove to be something the market desperately unwants.
Microsoft is a nice, safe stock. A utility stock for the 21st Century. But the glory days are over.
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