Markets and Business News Review

‘I’m having panic attacks’: My ex-husband emptied our joint bank accounts, hacked into my email and stole my life savings. Do I have any recourse?

Quentin Fottrell — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 04:26:00 -0400

“I’m working with the fund manager, as I found some emails where he pretended to be me on some forged documents.”

Kamala Harris campaign looks for ‘reset’ with crypto companies

Sat, 27 Jul 2024 03:00:51 -0400

Vice-president’s team aims to improve relations after industry criticism of the Biden administration

Memecoins, Cryptocurrencies Based on Internet Memes, Roar Back

David Yaffe-Bellany — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 03:00:28 -0400

One of the wildest, most scam-ridden corners of the cryptocurrency industry — memecoins, which are rooted in internet memes — has roared back.

US reveals security concerns around TikTok and ByteDance

Sat, 27 Jul 2024 02:14:04 -0400

Department of Justice alleges sensitive American user data was stored in China

Could Trump actually weaken the dollar?

Sat, 27 Jul 2024 00:00:51 -0400

If the former president returns to the White House, he might find it a hard task

Access to cash is the tip of a digital iceberg

Sat, 27 Jul 2024 00:00:51 -0400

Things are getting back to normal after the CrowdStrike debacle. But for millions of UK adults, the online outage continues

Vivian Jenna Wilson, Elon Musk’s Transgender Daughter, Says He Was ‘Cruel’ and ‘Uncaring’

Aimee Ortiz — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 19:58:18 -0400

Vivian Jenna Wilson’s remarks, in an exclusive interview with NBC News, were a response to Mr. Musk’s comments about her transgender identity.

Ackman’s Pershing Square USA says IPO is still happening, despite NYSE delay notice

Bill Peters — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 19:30:00 -0400

The timeline for the initial public offering of billionaire investor Bill Ackman’s new investment fund Pershing Square USA appeared to get a bit hazier on Friday, according to the New York Stock Exchange — though the fund claimed it was still moving ahead with the offering.

News updates from July 26: Sabotage hits French railways before opening ceremony; Ackman postpones Pershing Square IPO

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 19:22:45 -0400

S&P 500’s turbulent week ends with stocks rallying after inflation report

Christine Idzelis — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 19:00:00 -0400

U.S. stocks rebounded Friday after a turbulent week for the S&P 500.

Ackman postpones Pershing Square IPO after scaling back expectations

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 18:34:45 -0400

Delay marks a setback for the billionaire hedge fund manager who hoped for one of the largest listings in history

NASA Moves Toward Boeing Starliner Return to Restore Space Station Traffic

Kenneth Chang — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 17:34:39 -0400

With the Falcon 9 rocket set to fly again, and testing of the Starliner capsule progressing, the agency is seeking to turn the page on a brief, troubled chapter in orbit.

Warner Bros. Discovery Sues N.B.A. Over TV Rights Deal

Tania Ganguli — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 17:29:51 -0400

The company is trying to make the league accept its match of Amazon’s bid to broadcast games starting with the 2025-26 season.

Tech reversal pushes US megacaps into correction territory

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 17:13:51 -0400

Double-digit falls in Nvidia, Tesla, Meta and Alphabet highlight questions on AI investment returns

Why CrowdStrike is likely shielded from billions in customer losses caused by its outage

Therese Poletti — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 17:05:00 -0400

The outage is believed to have caused $5.4 billion in losses for big enterprises — but various factors help insulate the cybersecurity company.

Some of the most popular trades of 2024 are coming undone after reaching ‘stupid’ levels

Joseph Adinolfi — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 16:55:00 -0400

The selloff in U.S. semiconductor and megacap stocks has sucked up most of investors’ attention over the past couple of weeks. But they aren’t the only momentum trades that have stopped working.

Why Charter’s stock had its best day on record after its earnings report

Emily Bary — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 16:44:00 -0400

Charter lost fewer internet subscribers than expected in the second quarter, though subscriber losses in its video business were steeper than what analysts were modeling.

3M’s stock has its best day on record as upbeat outlook underscores fresh start

Tomi Kilgore — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 16:37:00 -0400

The maker of Post-it Notes, Scotch tape and Command strips beat second-quarter earnings expectations and raised its full-year outlook.

Why Zelle scams concern lawmakers so much — and how they could affect you

Zoe Han — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 16:33:00 -0400

Victims of Zelle scams are entitled to more reimbursement than they’re getting, lawmakers say.

“Magnificent 7” Stocks Rebound; Is the Stock Rotation Dead?

Gerelyn Terzo — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 15:57:56 -0400

Key Points in this Article

Russell 2000 is up close to 12% in July while money has been flowing into small cap stocks.
The “Magnificent 7” has been declining while investors take gains from big tech.
If you’re looking for a megatrend with massive potential, make sure to grab a complimentary copy of our “The Next NVIDIA” report. The report includes a complete industry map of AI investments that includes many small caps.

The Magnificent 7 stocks have had a volatile summer so far, shaving off $1.7 trillion in market cap in a short two-week stretch. With the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising over 650 points today, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are both seeing green as well, market conditions appear to be looking up for Big Tech, though the results are mixed.

After taking the brunt of an investor rotation out of technology leaders and into lesser-known small-cap stocks, fueling an impressive 11.24% run in the Russell 2000 in July so far, Big Tech has reclaimed momentum, as evidenced by a rebound in most of the Magnificent 7 stocks. The initial market pivot away from tech leaders and into small caps was fueled by signs of easing inflation in June, fueling hopes of a reversal in the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.

Meanwhile, tech names have been leading the broader market higher for much of this year, sending the S&P 500 index to multiple record highs in 2024. As the Magnificent 7 group looks to regain its rightful place in the pecking order, here’s a look at how these stocks are faring in July compared with their small-cap counterparts, suggesting the summer slump may be over for Big Tech. Whether or not the market rotation is over remains to be seen, but investors might want to hedge their bets just in case.

Today’s Roundup

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) shares are up fractionally on the day to approximately $218 per share. In July, shares of the iPhone maker have tacked on 2.3%, as the stock has held its own in the seemingly short-lived small-cap rotation. Investors may be feeling bullish about the prospects of an AI-powered iPhone 15 Pro and 16, models that are slated to make their debut in the coming months.

Meta (Nasdaq: META) stock is trading decidedly in the green, with a gain of nearly 3% on the day. In July, Meta shares have some catching up to do, as the stock is down 7.7% on the month. Investors could be awaiting Meta’s Q2 results, which are planned for July 31, to decide, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg insists that the company continues to gain market share.

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) shares have gained 1.5% on the day despite a 5.3% decline in July. Wall Street firm UBS is positive on the stock, with analysts suggesting the company’s AI market position coupled with growth in its cloud computing business should strengthen investor confidence.

Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) Netflix stock is taking it on the chin today, losing nearly 1% while many of its Magnificent 7 peers are trading higher. In July, Netflix shares have lost a steeper 6.5%. Netflix is a volatile stock, one that moves with the whims of sentiment. After seeing a 16.5% increase in its global subscribers in Q2, the company will phase out the publishing of its subscriber numbers.

Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) stock is eking out a modest gain on the day to $112 per share but has yet to recapture a 9% decline in July. While Nvidia stock has been in the doldrums of late, Loop Capital analysts lifted their price target on this AI darling from $120 to $175 per share.

Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) stock is trading fractionally lower to end the week at $219 per share. However, Tesla stock has bucked the downward trend in the Magnificent 7 stocks of late, having gained approximately 9% in July so far. Tesla’s board is reportedly mulling a $5 billion allocation to his AI company xAI.

Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOGL) shares aren’t participating in the rebound and remain fractionally lower on the day. In July, Alphabet stock has fallen a steeper 9.2%. Investors could be fleeing Alphabet stock in response to the narrative that AI is a threat to Google’s role in the future of internet search despite the fact that Google is investing heavily into AI too.

Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With An Advisor Now (Sponsored)

Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.

Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.

Click here now to get started.

The post “Magnificent 7” Stocks Rebound; Is the Stock Rotation Dead? appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

2-year Treasury yield ends at more than 5-month low after PCE inflation data

Vivien Lou Chen — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 15:49:00 -0400

U.S. government debt rallied on Friday, pushing yields broadly lower, after the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge left expectations in place for the first interest-rate cut to arrive in September.

The Market Is Getting Ready To Puke

Austin Smith — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 15:46:04 -0400

Nvidia Has Driven All The Gains

Doug McIntyre and Lee Jackson discuss the recent 700-point jump in the Dow, the largest in a year, and debate whether this trend will continue or if the market is reaching unsustainable levels. They emphasize that a significant portion of the S&P 500’s 24% increase has been driven by a few key stocks, including NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA). They explore the idea of a broader market advance, with Jackson suggesting that a rotation away from tech stocks to small caps and domestic companies could be well-timed. McIntyre expresses a preference for a more diversified market advance, involving a larger number of stocks contributing to the overall growth.

What’s THE NEXT Nvidia that Will Fuel The S&P Higher?

Investors everywhere want to know what the Next Nvidia will be, and our top tech analyst has released a 38 page report answering just that. In it, they name three stocks poised for the same sort of parabolic returns that Nvidia has shown. You can access for free by clicking here now.

https://videos.247wallst.com/247wallst.com/2024/07/The-Market-Is-Getting-Ready-To-Puke.mp4

Transcript:

So the Dow was up 700 points today, biggest jump in one year.

Are there more 700 point jumps ahead or are we now just getting to nosebleed levels?

You know, we’ve had this discussion over the last 90 days, and we’ve been at nosebleed levels for some time.

And, you know, on any, again, as we both have said and told our viewers, you know, 7 to 10 stocks have made up the lion’s share of the 24% move in the S&P.

Okay, and we know who those stocks are.

But the question really is, will it broaden out?

And it is to some degree broadening because the Dow stocks have lagged and the Dow itself as a whole has lagged.

I mean, the big winner today was United Healthcare, you know, and it’s a $500 stock.

So I’m not sure a lot of people have that in their portfolio.

But I think that the rotation away from the techs is probably pretty well-timed.

And I think people looking at small caps and domestic companies could be onto something here.

So I have a bias.

You tell me if you agree with it.

I would prefer to see the market advance broadly so that it’s being driven not by a small handful of stocks, but you can look and it goes deeper than that.

It’s 50, 100 stocks that make up a large part of the S&P 500.

Do you agree with that?

You’re sort of, we’re better off if it’s a broad advance than it’s just at this point, some days it’s like four stocks.

Yeah, well, I mean, again, the equal weighted S&P 500 is it’s up this year, but it’s not up 23%.

And there has to be a point that if it doesn’t expand and the breadth doesn’t get better, that when it does topple, it’ll be a rush to get out.

And you know what happens when that happens, then it feeds on itself and you get sellers and people go, well, maybe I should sell because everybody’s selling.

And if they’re the last person in on NVIDIA or any of those names, they’ll be, they’ll be the first people out.

“The Next NVIDIA” Could Change Your Life

If you missed out on NVIDIA’s historic run, your chance to see life-changing profits from AI isn’t over.

The 24/7 Wall Street Analyst who first called NVIDIA’s AI-fueled rise in 2009 just published a brand-new research report named “The Next NVIDIA.”

Click here to download your FREE copy.

The post The Market Is Getting Ready To Puke appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Paris Olympics offer a reset for sponsors after years of troubled games

James Rogers — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 15:33:00 -0400

The Paris Summer Olympics could mark a reset for major sponsors after years of games held against the backdrop of geopolitical issues and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to branding expert Jim Andrews.

Oil falls for the week on Gaza cease-fire hopes, economic weakness in China

Myra P. Saefong — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 15:28:00 -0400

Oil settled lower on Friday and ended at a loss for the week, with prices weighed down by expectations of a Gaza cease-fire deal that would ease global supply concerns.

With Long Hours and a No-Fail Mission, the Secret Service Tries to Make Do

Kate Kelly — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 15:09:49 -0400

The agency charged with protecting presidents and foreign leaders has its largest ever budget, but employees say it is still unable to recruit and retain enough people to carry the load.

The penny starts to drop on small stock machinations

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 15:00:50 -0400

Market-maker Virtu calls for reforms to tackle micro-cap manoeuvrings

‘I’ve no heirs’: I’m 65 and have a $650,000 house with a $50,000 mortgage, and own two rentals. I only have $100,000 in the bank. Should I release that equity?

Beth Pinsker — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:54:00 -0400

A reader has no heirs and is ready to enjoy life, but all their money is tied up in properties.

Age-proofing your résumé? New law helps job applicants hide their age.

Jessica Hall — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:53:00 -0400

Job hunting is never easy, and that’s especially true for older workers. But a new law that went into effect in Colorado on July 1 could give more experienced job seekers a leg up.

The No. 1 enemy of your 401(k) plan may be you

Brett Arends — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:52:00 -0400

Here’s the truth about the portfolio strategy you might be following.

Olympians’ families turn to GoFundMe in a race to get to Paris: ‘How would we miss this?’

Zoe Han — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:33:00 -0400

Families of Olympic athletes are working against tight timelines and high expenses for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at the Paris Games.

Apollo Global Management to acquire gaming companies IGT and Everi in $6.3 billion deal

Steve Gelsi — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:28:00 -0400

Apollo will buy both gaming companies, which had agreed to a merger deal in February.

Musk’s X faces questions from watchdog over AI data grab

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:27:29 -0400

Social media company’s move to automatically allow user data to train chatbot could breach European privacy rules

Wall St. Veteran Breaks Down IRA Rollovers In Plain English

Austin Smith — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:27:02 -0400

Retirement Is Full Of Complexities

Doug McIntyre and Lee Jackson discuss the benefits of rolling an IRA into a Roth IRA, especially for individuals in their late 40s and early 50s. They highlight the significant advantage of tax-free distributions after age 62 and the simplicity of converting through financial institutions like Fidelity or Vanguard. The conversation emphasizes the importance of understanding the process and the long-term benefits of making this financial decision, particularly for those with existing 401k plans.

But A Few Great Stocks Can Make It All Easier

One of the best ways to ensure a great retirement is to move past optimizations like which account to draw first, what age to take Social Security, and hand wringing over a rollover. Instead, simply investing in some of the greatest mega trends of our time can make you wealthy enough that the rest doesn’t matter.

That’s why we penned a special 38 page research report titled ‘The Next Nvidia’. We believe the three stocks revealed inside can go on to generate life-changing returns. For a limited time the report is totally free to 24/7 Wall St. readers. You can access now by clicking here.

https://videos.247wallst.com/247wallst.com/2024/07/Wall-St-Veteran-Breaks-Down-IRA-Rollovers-In-Plain-English.mp4

Transcript:

Okay.

So you’ve got an IRA. Right. Do you roll it into something else?

And if so, why?

Well, I think for people that are approaching the last stretch of their career, men and women in their late 40s, early 50s, if you’ve got an IRA, you need to roll it to a Roth now.

Because if your company 401k is really where all your money is going, because that’s where you’re taking the big deduction.

And in most cases, that’s where everybody gets some matching money from their company.

If you roll into a Roth, there is no year-over-year benefit anymore.

In other words, you can always deduct $2,000 or $8,000 or whatever you can put in your IRA account.

If you don’t have a 401k, but if you have a 401k, that’s typically your major input for the year.

But in a Roth, there is no tax benefit.

But after you’ve been in for five years and when you’re 62 years old or older, all of the distributions that come out of there are tax-free.

They are not taxable.

And that is the huge advantage because when you take a distribution from your IRA when you’re 62 or older or at whatever age, that is taxable, which isn’t fair, but it’s taxable.

So that’s a really good argument for everybody, especially if you do have the 401k to convert your IRA to a Roth.

So for people who don’t understand this, it hasn’t been explained to them. This is pretty easy. I mean, how would I go about it?

Well, often you can do it yourself if you are at Fidelity or Vanguard or someplace like that.

But if you’ve got a broker or a Schwab guy or somebody like that, just call them and say, hey, I need to convert this and they can convert it and give you the paperwork and do everything, do all the setup.

And then you just roll the assets in there.

And again, there’s limitations on this because it takes, you have to have been in it five years and you have to be 62 or older.

But if you’re taking those distributions and, in addition to a pension or something down the road.

And who knows, your IRA could be smaller, it could be sizable, but it would be really great to take those distributions cash-free after age 62.

And if you’ve been in for five years.

But the bottom line is, is I can do this myself.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I don’t think it’s that difficult. People don’t have to go out and pay a lot. This is something if I decide it’s a good idea, I can do it myself.

It’s unlike a lot of other financial decisions and move where I’m paying somebody money.

Yeah. Oh, no. I’m sure you could go on the Vanguard site or if you have an account at Schwab or wherever you may have an account, I’m sure that it says it right on their account.

You convert to a Roth or change to a Roth. I’m sure it’s very, very simple.

Good. Well, that’s good advice. And we’re going to start to do more of this financial advice as we go down the road.

So thank you for that.

Yeah, I think it’s a really good idea. And I think people should consider this, especially those, again, like I said, 48 to 55, who maybe still have some working years and could still tuck a fair amount of money away in their self-directed and convert it.

Yeah.

“The Next NVIDIA” Could Change Your Life

If you missed out on NVIDIA’s historic run, your chance to see life-changing profits from AI isn’t over.

The 24/7 Wall Street Analyst who first called NVIDIA’s AI-fueled rise in 2009 just published a brand-new research report named “The Next NVIDIA.”

Click here to download your FREE copy.

The post Wall St. Veteran Breaks Down IRA Rollovers In Plain English appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

AI start-up Anthropic accused of ‘egregious’ data scraping

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:23:59 -0400

Web publishers say developer is swarming their sites, collecting content to train models and ignoring orders to stop

Andrew Left, Prominent Short Seller, Accused of Fraud in Multiyear Scheme

Matthew Goldstein — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:11:11 -0400

Federal authorities filed charges against Andrew Left, founder of Citron Research, who they said made at least $16 million from a multiyear scheme to manipulate market prices.

Gold’s losses this week have left the metal ‘bent but not yet broken’

Myra P. Saefong — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:05:00 -0400

Gold futures ended higher on Friday, but tallied a second weekly loss in row as the precious metal got caught up in the broad drop in risk assets after climbing last week to fresh record-high prices.

DexCom’s stock is headed for its worst selloff ever. Not everyone thinks it’s justified.

Bill Peters — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:59:00 -0400

Shares of DexCom Inc. tumbled more than 40% on Friday and were headed for their worst percentage drop on record, a day after the maker of diabetes-management equipment shocked investors with a cut to its sales forecast that heightened concerns about growing global competition and the company’s prospects overall.

Charles Barkley: NBA took ‘money over the fans’ by choosing Amazon. Now TNT is suing.

Weston Blasi — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:52:00 -0400

The NBA signed a $76 billion TV deal with Disney, NBC and Amazon, leaving TNT without any NBA games for the first time since 1988.

Colgate-Palmolive’s stock boosted by earnings beat as company backs guidance

Ciara Linnane — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:50:00 -0400

All operating divisions achieved volume growth in the latest quarter, CEO says.

As Trump Looms, Blinken Aims to Reassure Allies on U.S. Commitment to Asia

Edward Wong — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:35:27 -0400

Asian officials will press Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken about the former president and about Kamala Harris as he visits the region.

Mohawk Industries’ stock rallies as flooring-products maker draws upgrade on boosted profit view

Steve Gelsi — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:32:00 -0400

Mohawk Industries Inc.’s stock jumped 16% on Friday after the maker of flooring products said it would beat analyst estimates for its third quarter and revealed plans to cut more costs, and after drawing an upgrade to buy from hold from BofA Securities.

Consumers’ financial health suffers when sports betting is legalized, new research shows

Maya Levine — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:28:00 -0400

The easier the access, the more the harm

Beware of bears selling shorts

Brett Arends — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:26:00 -0400

If Elon Musk tweets about a stock – GAMESTONK! – are you required to rush out and buy it? Are you required to speculate on it with a lot of money that you can’t afford to lose?

Why ‘dog days’ of summer can be harsh for these bonds

Joy Wiltermuth — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:23:00 -0400

Trading activity in U.S. corporate bonds tends to dry up in late summer, according to Barclays.

Microsoft (MSFT) Price Prediction and Forecast 2025-2030

Joel South — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:21:16 -0400

Everyone knows Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and its best-known products, including the Windows operating system and Microsoft 365 suite of productivity apps, but its growing cloud computing platform, Azure, is the future of the company.

Microsoft stock has been a millionaire maker for decades, with a stock split adjusted IPO price of $0.14, which means at today’s stock price of $418.14, the stock is up 429642.03%. That would have turned a $1000 investment at Microsoft’s IPO into $4.30 million today.

As one of the most valuable companies in the world, the only thing investors focus on is what the stock will do over the coming years. Wall Street analysts only go as far as 1 year out when giving a stock prediction. But long term investors want to know where Microsoft might be several years down the road.

24/7 Wall Street aims to give you our assumptions on the stock and provide our insights around the numbers coming from Microsoft and which markets the company is operating in that are most exciting to us.

Key Points in this Article:

Key growth drivers: Azure cloud services, productivity software, and LinkedIn dominate Microsoft’s future potential.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision boosts its gaming segment, enhancing its competitive edge in the personal computing market.
If you’re looking for an AI stock early in the AI growth cycle, grab a complimentary copy of our “The Next NVIDIA” report. It has a software stock that could ride dominance in AI to returns of 10X or more.

Microsoft’s 10-Year Market Smashing Results

Here’s a table summarizing performance in share price, revenues, and profits (net income) from 2014 to 2018.

	Share Price	Revenues	Net Income
2014	$46.16	$86.83	$22.07
2015	$46.70	$93.58	$12.19
2016	$56.21	$91.15	$20.54
2017	$72.26	$96.57	$25.49
2018	$108.04	$110.36	$16.57
2019	$138.06	$125.84	$39.24
2020	$205.01	$143.02	$44.28
2021	$286.50	$168.09	$61.27
2022	$276.41	$198.27	$72.74
2023	$330.72	$211.92	$72.36
TTM	$465.39	$279.99	$86.18

Revenue and net income in $billions

In the last decade Microsoft’s revenue grew 222% while its net income went from $22.07 billion to over $86 billion (in the trailing 12 months). A big driver of profits over the past decade was Microsoft’s Intelligence cloud business, which grew 18% annually and drove operating profits of $37.88 billion in 2023 from $8.44 billion in 2014.

As Microsoft looks to the second of the decade, a few key areas will determine its performance.

Key Drivers of Microsoft’s Stock Performance

Productivity and Business Processes: Microsoft’s Office and Dynamics 365 solutions and its LinkedIn products currently make up around one-third of the company’s revenue. Office in particular holds a near monopoly in office productivity software and most 3rd party applications have embeds, making switching costs high for this business line. LinkedIn also does not have a solid competitor in the professional networking space. High growth rates in this segment, but Microsoft has the advantage of controlling its price on its high market share products.
Intelligence Cloud: Microsoft’s Azure, OpenAI, GitHub, SQL among other cloud businesses make up close to half of the company’s revenue. But the crown jewel is Azure which only makes up close to 30% of Microsoft’s revenue and grew 30% over the past year alone. The future of Microsoft will depend on Azure and its competition with Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) AWS will determine which company will dominate the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and reward shareholders handsomely in the process.
Personal Computing: Windows, gaming, search and devices is currently 25% of Microsoft’s business and this segment is the most open to competitors eroding market share. Outside of Windows, which has a solidified market share (and not likely to dwindle), Microsoft search and devices will be facing a steep uphill battle over the coming years. Its acquisition of Activision is a positive for its gaming line but personal computing will play an ancillary part in Microsoft’s future.

Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Price Prediction in 2025

The current consensus 1-year price target for Microsoft stock is $480.90, which is a 15.01% upside from today’s stock price of $418.14. Of all the analysts covering Microsoft, the stock is a consensus buy, with a 1.33 “Buy” rating.

24/7 Wall Street’s 12 month forecast projects Microsoft’s stock price to be $495. We see Azure continuing its 20+% growth and earnings per share coming in right at $11.80.

Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Forecast Through 2030

Year	Revenue	Net Income	EPS
2024	$244.97	$88.93	$13.32
2025	$278.00	$99.25	$15.67
2026	$321.63	$115.65	$18.10
2027	$370.79	$136.81	$20.40
2028	$416.08	$151.87	$22.62
2029	$453.39	$166.56	$25.45
2030	$503.13	$181.71	$28.70

Revenue and net income in $billions

Microsoft Share Price Estimates 2025-2030

Price Forecast and Prediction for 2025: We expect to see revenue growth just over 8% and EPS of $15.67 for the year. We expect the stock to still trade at a similar multiple next year, putting our estimate for the stock price for Microsoft at $548.00 in 2025, which is 31.06% higher than the stock is trading today.

Price Forecast and Prediction for 2026: We estimate the price to be $633.00, with small revenue gains but margins expanding and an EPS of $18.10. We expect to see Microsoft’s P/E ratio to steep down slowly each year through 2030. The stock price estimate would represent a 51.39% gain over today’s share price of 418.14.

Price Forecast and Prediction for 2027: We expect the stock price increase not to be as pronounced and earnings estimates of $20.40 per share, the stock price target for the year is $652.00. That is a 3% year-over-year gain from the previous year, but still up 55.93% from today’s stock price.

Price Forecast and Prediction for 2028: We expect Microsoft’s P/E ratio to drop to 30x in 2028 but grow its top line by 14%. In 2028, we have Microsoft’s revenue coming in around $420 billion and an EPS of $22.62 suggesting a stock price estimate at $678.00 or a gain of 57.78% over the current stock price.

Price Forecast and Prediction for 2029: We expect Microsoft’s P/E ratio to drop to 30x in 2028 but grow its top line by 14%. In 2028, we have Microsoft’s revenue coming in around $420 billion and an EPS of $22.62 suggesting a stock price estimate at $678.00 or a gain of 62.15% over the current stock price.

Price Forecast and Prediction for 2030: We estimate Microsoft’s stock price to be $717.00 per share with a sub 10% year-over-year revenue growth. Our estimated stock price will be 71.47% higher than the current stock price of 418.14.

Year	Price Target	% Change From Current Price
2024	$495.00	Upside of 18.38%
2025	$548.00	Upside of 31.06%
2026	$633.00	Upside of 51.39%
2027	$652.00	Upside of 55.93%
2028	$678.00	Upside of 62.15%
2029	$687.00	Upside of 64.30%
2030	$717.00	Upside of 71.47%

Recent Microsoft Stock Updates and News

7/26/2024

Microsoft stock is up 2.5% today and continues to climb out of the cellar it was dropped into on Wednesday when the stock dropped 4%. In fact, “Magnificent 7” stocks are recovering after a wide rotational sell-off hit each stock early this month.

With more large tech stocks on the verge of releasing earnings, investors are hesitant to stay away and miss out on earnings beats and share price appreciation. Microsoft will release earnings this coming Tuesday. (edited)

7/25/2024

Although the recent IT outage related to an update from Crowdstrike was resolved quickly, Microsoft Stock is experiencing some volatility, including a -4% drop in shares yesterday.

7/24/2024

Under 1 week until Microsoft’s 2nd quarter earnings release. Microsoft is set to report Q4 earnings on July 30, with expected revenue of $64.38 billion, a 14.6% increase, and net income of $21.88 billion. Key focus areas include Azure’s growth, driven by AI workloads, with Goldman Sachs estimating cloud revenue at $37.2 billion.

7/23/2024

Piper Sandler analysts reaffirmed an Overweight rating on Microsoft, forecasting Microsoft Cloud revenue to hit $200 billion by 2026, driven by increased capex. They raised the MSFT stock price target to $485. Microsoft’s next quarterly earnings call is July 30th.

7/22/2024

A global cyber outage on Friday disrupted air travel and payments, delaying 36,000 flights and canceling 4,000. A CrowdStrike software update caused issues for millions of Microsoft Windows devices. A fix was deployed, but CrowdStrike’s stock fell.

7/17/2024

Microsoft is up 30% over the past year and the question on investors’ minds is, “Is it too late to buy Microsoft”? Early investment in OpenAI boosted shares by 89% in 2023. Despite impressive gains, Microsoft continues to expand in AI and cloud computing, suggesting further growth potential. Its diverse portfolio and strong earnings make it a solid long-term investment. The new face of Microsoft suggests it’s still early in the AI growth cycle.

7/12/2024

DMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman, who has Microsoft as an “Outperform” stock, raised the 1-year price target for the stock to $500, up from $465. Bachman is impressed with Microsoft’s cloud demand and projects a 31% year-over-year Azure growth for the current quarter and sees upside potential over that estimate.

7/11/2024

Microsoft’s stock, up 95% since early last year, is poised for further growth due to its AI advancements. The company aims for mid-teens revenue growth, potentially reaching $371 billion by 2027. With a five-year average price-to-sales multiple of 11, Microsoft’s market cap could hit $4 trillion, driven by expanding AI applications in cloud computing, workplace productivity, and PC markets.

7/10/2024

Both Microsoft and Apple have withdrawn their observer seat to OpenAI’s board to steer clear of regulatory scrutiny and will instead meet with OpenAI in less formal, regularly scheduled meetings.

Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI in addition to providing computing power and cloud storage.

7/9/2024

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has once again moved ahead of Microsoft as the most valuable company in the world. While the top rankings will continue to shift on daily price movements, Apple, Microsoft, and NVIDIA continue to vie for the top spot.

Take

This New Car Will Give You the Best Bang for Your Buck

Melly Alazraki — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:07:36 -0400

24/7 Wall St. Insights

With new car prices remaining high, customers can opt for value — buying a car with the lowest cost relative to its lifespan

While compact cars certainly provide value, there are several midsize cars, SUVs, and even trucks that are also value purchases

Find out if any of the car companies mentioned are also noted in our newsletter: 2 Dividend Legends To Hold Forever

Shares of automotive companies fell this week after they reported quarterly financial results. With high car prices, slowing sales, and growing inventories at dealerships, some companies had to offer deep discounts or other incentives that in some cases cut into their profits. Ford (NYSE: F) shares have declined nearly 20% so far this week, General Motors (NYSE: GM) shed over 9%, and Stellantis (NYSE; STLA) dropped over 14%.

Gone are the pandemic days when high-income earners spent above ticker price on vehicles loaded with premium features. Now, lower-income earners find it difficult to pay suggested retail prices for these inventoried expensive and fully-loaded vehicles. Inflation and high interest rates make it even more difficult for new car buyers.

It’s true that car prices have declined somewhat in recent months, but they remain high, and while inventories are higher than they were during the pandemic years, they remain low compared to pre-pandemic years. This leaves car buyers with a choice of going for value and getting a car that provides, at least, the best bang for the buck. One way to do this is to calculate cost relative to the lifespan.

To find the new cars that will give you the most mileage for your money, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed iSeeCar’s report: The Best New Cars for the Money for 2024. In its study, iSeeCar analyzed the prices of over 8.3 million high-volume new cars sold from September through December 2023 and the odometer readings of over 181 million used cars. For each model, iSeeCar calculated the average price and compared it to its average lifespan in miles to get the purchase price per 10,000 miles. The top 20 cars with the lowest cost per 10,000 miles are listed here. Car sales figures are from GoodCarBadCar.

The study found the average new car price to be $47,885, and the average mileage lifespan to be 172,331. This means that a new car costs $2,779 for every 10,000 miles of lifespan, on average. The 20 cars on the list cost less than $2,000 per 10,000 miles of lifespan.

At the top of the list is the Mitsubishi Mirage. With a relatively low average price of $18,991 and over 172,000-mile average lifespan, the price per 10,000 miles is $1,099. This compact car is not alone on the list. In fact, the top five value cars are all compact cars.

Not all the cars on the list are compact cars, however, with four small SUVs — Honda CR-V (at $1,617 per 10,000 miles), Subaru Forester (at $1,850 per 10K miles), Subaru Outback (at $1,970 per 10K miles), and Toyota RAV4 (at $1,983 per 10K miles) — making the list as well. Several midsize cars also make the list and even two midsize trucks, the Toyota Tacoma (at $1,746 per 10K miles) and the Honda Ridgeline (at $1,817 per 10 K miles). (Another way is to ask for deep discount on these models: The Slowest-Selling New Cars in 2024.)

Toyota has six models in the top 20, including No. 2 Toyota Corolla with a value cost of $1,374 per 10,000 miles. Next, Honda and Subaru, have four models each. Nissan has two models on the list, while Chevrolet, Mazda, and Volkswagen have one each.

Why are we writing about this

With car prices still high, finding value models has become important for buyers. And while value can be defined in several ways, this study offers one approach for those who look for the lowest cost for mileage lifespan.

20. Toyota RAV4

Price per 10k miles: $1,983

Average new car price: $35,359

Average lifespan in miles: 178,320

Sales in first half 2024: 248,295 (#3 highest of 296 models)

Brand owner: Toyota Motor Corp.

19. Subaru Outback

Price per 10k miles: $1,970

Average new car price: $39,809

Average lifespan in miles: 202,033

Sales in first half 2024: 81,703 (#21 highest of 296 models)

Brand owner: Subaru Corp.

18. Chevrolet Malibu

Price per 10k miles: $1,944

Average new car price: $27,667

Average lifespan in miles: 142,332

Sales in first half 2024: 69,109 (#34 highest of 296 models)

Brand owner: General Motors

17. Subaru Forester

Price per 10k miles: $1,850

Average new car price: $36,018

Average lifespan in miles: 194,651

Sales in first half 2024: 92,849 (#15 highest of 296 models)

Brand owner: Subaru Corp.

16. Honda Ridgeline

Price per 10k miles: $1,817

Average new car price: $44,225

Average lifespan in miles: 243,431

Sales in first half 2024: 19,922 (#103 highest of 296 models)

Brand owner: Honda Motor Co.

15. Nissan Sentra

Price per 10k miles: $1,784

Average new car price: $23,969

Average lifespan in miles: 134,335

Sales in first half 2024: 89,030 (#19 highest of 296 models)

Brand owner: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance

14. Toyota Camry Hybrid

Price per 10k miles: $1,767

Average new car price: $35,631

Average lifespan in miles: 201,644

Sales in first half 2024: 155,241 (#6 highest of 296 models)

Brand owner: Toyota Motor Corp.

13. Toyota Tacoma

Price per 10k miles: $1,746

Average new car price: $41,727

Average lifespan in miles: 239,028

Sales in first half 2024: 69,437 (#33 highest of 296 models)

Brand owner: Toyota Motor Corp.

12. Volkswagen Jetta

Price per 10k miles: $1,737

Average new car price: $25,778

Average lifespan in miles: 148,410

Sales in first half 2024: 33,532 (#69 highest of 296 models)

Brand owner: Volkswagen AG.

11. Subaru Legacy

Price per 10k miles: $1,735

Average new car price: $32,889

Average lifespan in miles: 189,603

Sales in first half 2024: 9,450 (#160 highest of 296 models)

Brand owner: Subaru Corp.

10. Toyota Prius

Price per 10k miles: $1,683

Average new car price: $35,313

Average lifespan in miles: 209,839

Sales in first half 2024: 15,373 (#122 highest of 296 models)

Brand owner: Toyota Motor Corp.

9. Mazda 3

Price per 10k miles: $1,644

Average new car price: $30,253

Average lifespan in miles: 184,069

Sales in first half 2024: 17,827 (#113 highest of 296 models)

Brand owner: Mazda Motor Corp.

8. Honda CR-V

Price per 10k miles: $1,617

Average new car price: $35,490

Average lifespan in miles: 219,509

Sales in first half 2024: 196,204 (#4 highest of 296 models)

Brand owner: Honda Motor Co.

7. Nissan Versa