Investors Returning to Microsoft’s Stock

Just when it appeared investors had left Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) for newer, shinier models, the Redmond, WA tech giant is beginning to return to investors’ good graces.

Indeed, shares of the company are up a remarkable 41.7% for the year.

What’s going on here?

A full-on restoration of investor confidence it seems.

When ValueAct Capital founder Jeff Ubben took an enormous $2 bullion long position in the company in April, investors were forced to reexamine the stock, seeking to answer the question, “What the heck does this guy see in Microsoft?”

Ubben and company are so impressed with what’s going on at Microsoft, they want to get involved. Either that, or they feel that holding $2 billion in the company’s stock entitles them to a say. The two parties have agreed to hold regular meetings, but we can assume that it won’t be long until G. Mason Morfit, president of ValueAct Capital is sitting on Microsoft’s board.

The departure of CEO Steve Ballmer on August 23rd, too, has seen the tech company’s stock prices tick upward and throughout the ongoing search for a replacement for Mr. Ballmer, something resembling optimism has emerged surrounding the company. In the past week, it’s been all good news for the Ballmer’s former company, although little of it seems to have much of anything to do with the core competencies of the company, save for some news about the XBOX One.

Microsoft has been lauded for both putting an end to their “stack rating” system and partnering with Google in an effort to curb child pornography online.

If you didn’t actually take a look at Microsoft’s stock chart, you might assume, based on headlines over the past several months, that the company’s stock had been continuing its seemingly eternally flat trend.

However, with the Surface doing reasonably well, Office sales maintaining a dominant market share and strong quarterly earnings accompanying a CEO shakeup, Microsoft has investors interested (and invested) for the first time in recent years.