Get ready, as there’s a double-shot of positive news for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock investors.
First of all, Microsoft’s pricing strategy indicates that businesses are willing to pay a high price for the company’s AI-enabled products. Also, Microsoft is making progress on its path to buying out a well-known maker of video games.
Despite the good news, value-focused investors might feel that Microsoft stock is overbought right now.
Yet, just because Microsoft is a darling of the market, this doesn’t mean that the company’s market capitalization can’t grow. So, you can either get on board or just watch from the sidelines as Microsoft continues to provide supreme value to its shareholders.
AI-Friendly Products Add Value to MSFT Stock
Speaking of value, some skeptics might point out that Microsoft’s trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio exceeds the sector median P/E ratio.
That’s true now, but it’s been true for a while and hasn’t stopped MSFT stock from moving higher this year.
In the final analysis, Microsoft’s value to its shareholders comes from the company’s leading-edge products.
The company made a bold and brilliant move when Microsoft embedded generative AI functionality into several products (Bing chat, the Edge browser, etc.).
Indeed, Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin even went so far as to call Microsoft stock an “AI All-Star.” Microsoft reinforced this point recently when the company announced that it’s charging businesses $30 per user per month for Microsoft 365 Copilot.
That’s higher than the estimate provided by Oppenheimer analysts. They had expected Microsoft to charge businesses only $20 per user per month for access to Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Importantly, Microsoft 365 Copilot is generative AI-enabled and helps businesses manage Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel and Teams.
Microsoft Closer to a Game-Changing Deal
If Microsoft is prepared to charge a higher-than-expected price for businesses to use Microsoft 365 Copilot, that’s actually great news. It shows the company’s confidence in its AI-friendly product lines.
That’s not the only reason to keep Microsoft stock on your watch list in 2023’s second half, though. Remember, Microsoft has aspirations to generative significant revenue from AI, but also from video games.
Microsoft seeks to acquire Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), the developer of Call of Duty and other popular video games.
Previously, the Federal Trade Commission had attempted to block this deal, but a federal U.S. appeals court ruled against the FTC in that case.
In a more recent victory for Microsoft, the FTC appears to have given up on its efforts to block the Microsoft-Activision deal through its in-house court. It’s a step closer to a buyout that’s bound to alter the landscape of the video-game market.
It’s not a done deal quite yet, though. This represents a giant leap forward for Microsoft, but it’s not an all-clear for the deal to go through. There’s still some pushback from Britain’s antitrust regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Microsoft Stock: A Confident Pick at Any Price
A while back, it seemed uncertain that the Microsoft-Activision deal would make headway in the U.S. Now, it’s almost a sure thing. The next hurdle to clear is getting past the objections of British authorities.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is busy pushing the envelope with its constantly improving suite of AI-friendly products. This, irrespective of the proposed Activision acquisition, will add value to Microsoft stock. So ultimately, it’s counterproductive to worry about Microsoft’s valuation.
There’s also no need for investors to lose sleep over Britain’s resistance to the Activision buyout. MSFT stock is still worth owning, and will keep on moving higher, because Microsoft releases best-in-class products.
So, you can either get on board with a share position now, or get left behind and regret it later.
On the date of publication, David Moadel did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
