08.13.10
Microsoft Downgraded Again, This Time by Jim Yin; Bill Gates Dumps Microsoft Shares
Summary: Another blow to Microsoft as its cash cows remain tied to a stagnant market; Gates sells 2 million shares of the company he co-founded
ICROSOFT is having some hard times with growing debt and a series of negative long-term projections from analysts. “[T]he big slump in PC sale for MS is about to happen,” wrote Chips B Malroy last night. He linked to Microsoft Gavin, who is doing/airing Microsoft’s ‘damage control’ in the face of slumping desktop sales (Vista 7 is quite irrelevant outside desktops/laptops). Microsoft’s stock has just fallen following reports of desktop demise.
Standard & Poor’s equity analyst Jim Yin lowered his rating on Microsoft stock Wednesday to “hold” from “buy,” and cut his price target from $35 to $31. MSFT was trading at about $24.60 as of 10 a.m. PDT.
“We are concerned about a slowing global economy and think PC unit sales growth will moderate after rising over 20 percent in the first half of this year,” Yin wrote in a research note, as reported by Barron’s. “Inventories of some PC components such as hard disk drives have been rising, indicating to us that some PC manufacturers have already seen weaker demand. Slower economic growth will most likely delay a PC refresh cycle.”
Bill Gates, who uses a so-called ‘charity’ as an investment vehicle, is already dumping more of Microsoft (MSFT). Even Gates does not consider it to be a good investment.
Microsoft (MSFT) Gates William H III DIR 2,000,000 $51,145,40
As Microsoft struggles it will also sue more. █
