Microsoft is one of the most valuable companies in the world, so Microsoft’s share and Microsoft’s share price are among the most important things that investors pay attention to every day due to the great importance that this company enjoys and its shares in the world of technology and the stock market, and why not, which are the ones whose valuation reached In April of the last year 2019 to a trillion US dollars, and this indicates the economic and investment importance of this ancient and global company, so today we will take you on an educational tour in which we learn about how to trade Microsoft shares
Microsoft Corporation
It is a multinational company, as it contains a large number of employees of various nationalities with more than 114,000 employees, its founder is Bill Gates and Paul Allen, it was established on April 4 of 1975, and was then based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, It is currently headquartered in Redmond, Washington, United States.
Its CEO, Satya Nadala, took over from February 4, 2014. The company is the largest in the world working in computer technology, as we can classify it as the largest manufacturer specialized in the software industry in the world for computer devices.
History of Microsoft Corporation
The company was founded in 1975, and this is after Bill Gates and Paul Allen wrote the BASIC programming language for the Altair 8800 mini computer. They registered their business under the name Microsoft. In 1976, and over the next three years, the company gradually developed and opened An office in Japan, at which point she was able to achieve the first million dollars in sales, and then her main office was moved to Washington.
The IPO for the public on the stock exchange was a bit late, as Microsoft shares were first offered on March 13, 1986, at which time the company issued more than 3 million ordinary shares, and the price of Microsoft’s share was $ 21 per share.
The main reason for its offering is to increase market liquidity. And only a year later, the company managed to be the largest software company in the world.
In the nineties of its history, Microsoft made a giant quantum leap, as it produced its most famous product ever, which is Windows 95. More than 40 million units of the product were sold, which affected Microsoft’s stock positively, so its price rose a lot and kept rising until it reached Microsoft’s share price in 2000 reached its highest level ever at $ 58.83 per share. Bill Gates was then one of the world’s wealthiest people, so Bill stepped down as CEO and succeeded Steve Ballmer.
Microsoft share
In the early twenty-first century, the Xbox product launched in 2001 had a very great attraction, as more than 1.5 million units were sold in just two months. Still, the company witnessed intense competition later, which affected its share price, as at the end of the year 2003, the Share price dwindles, and it trades at $ 27.45. In the same year, Microsoft underwent nine stock splits since the IPO.
The most recent was a two-for-one split in 2003, which meant that shareholders took an additional stake for every share they owned.
With a stock split, the amount of shares increases, while the share price decreases to not affect the shareholding value or the company’s market value. After the split in 2003, one original share equals 288 shares. As of 2019, Microsoft pays a quarterly dividend of $ 0.46 per share.
In 2004 the company announced that it plans to return up to $ 75 billion to shareholders through dividend payments. This had little effect on the share price, which fell significantly only during the global financial crisis after Microsoft cut about 5,000 jobs. It wasn’t until 2012 that the stock price rose again – primarily due to a substantial revenue stream.
In 2014, Satya Nadella took over from Palmer as CEO of the company. Due to his leadership policy for the company, Microsoft’s share price has nearly tripled. The company has invested a lot of its energy in cloud computing and has become a fierce competition for many other technology companies such as Amazon and Apple.
How to buy Microsoft share
There are two types through which to invest in Microsoft shares, as follows.
Stock purchase
This type of investment is through direct purchase through the stock exchange. The investment company raises its shares. Here, Microsoft offers its shares in the Nasdaq company to buy directly from the Nasdaq exchange; you will have a stake in the company.
Price speculation
Here you will not buy directly from the stock exchange. Instead, you will need a broker that enables you to do so, as you trade the price electronically by selling and buying according to what you see appropriate for your investment.
All you have to do is find a trusted broker to deal with and then put an amount of money with him that enables you to buy the shares, and according to the price you set, you will determine the number of shares you will buy. Then you will click on the purchase order, and with this, you have shares in Microsoft that you can speculate on through buying and selling.
Factors affecting Microsoft share price
Three main factors affect the share price, and they are as follows.
Microsoft share – Supply and demand
Like any other investment company whose shares are traded on the stock exchange, the more demanded the company increases, its sales increase. Its annual profits contribute to raising the price value of its share and raising the market value of the company itself. Of course, the opposite is true.
Microsoft share – Competitors of the company
Because Microsoft has some similarities to it in the same field, its value may be closely related to what other competitors do. They provide, if Microsoft does not catch up and introduce products that outperform its competitors, this may affect its financial position in the market, Because it will reduce the demand for its products and make the consumer resort to competitors, which affects one way or another on the company’s price value.
For example, Microsoft’s fierce competitors are Apple and Google because they are also adept at providing global technology services.
Market Analytics
The market in which the company is located affects its investment nature, as the political, economic, and graphical analyzes of the company may affect the share price in one way or another. Before making the sale or purchase action on Microsoft shares, you must analyze the economic market of Microsoft Well, before taking any action to adopt decisions on correct scientific analyses, your expectations are close to what will happen.
The nature of Microsoft’s business
Although the company initially relied on licensing its programs and the Windows operating system to make money, its business model has evolved over the years, specifically in 2014, the company developed its products, and Microsoft’s business can be divided into the next.
Productivity and business processes: information, communication, and productivity
Intelligent Cloud: Server products and hosting services
Companies and others: alternative products and services
Personal Computing: User and Developer Interests
These were the most prominent details related to trading in Microsoft shares. For more inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us.
