AI will fuel Microsoft’s next surge

Article Excerpt

Over the past 10 years, Microsoft’s shares have soared, rising nearly 950% and far outpacing the 174% gain for the S&P 500 Index. That impressive climb reflects two main factors. First, the company pivoted from selling its software as a one-time purchase to a cloud-based subscription model on its Azure platform. That gave it more predictable revenue streams. The second factor is Microsoft’s decision to increase its stake in Open AI. That’s the firm behind the ChatGPT chatbot/search engine, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) software to interact with users in a conversational way and produce human-like written responses. Microsoft is now incorporating this AI technology into its cloud and other software products, which should continue to drive its growth for years to come. MICROSOFT CORP. $429 is a buy for aggressive investors. The world’s largest software maker (Nasdaq symbol MSFT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 7.4 billion; Market cap: $3.2 trillion; Price-to-sales ratio: 13.6; Dividend yield: 0.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.microsoft.com) has…