Xbox update set to boost Microsoft

Article Excerpt

MICROSOFT CORP. $134 (Nasdaq symbol MSFT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares o/s: 7.7 billion; Market cap: $1.03 trillion; Price-to-sales ratio: 8.4; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.microsoft.com) plans to launch the next version of its popular Xbox video game console in late 2020. The new model will be four times more powerful than the current Xbox One X console. The company is also planning to launch a new online streaming service that will let users play games on their consoles as well as smartphones, tablets and personal computers. Microsoft includes Xbox as part of its More Personal Computing division (mainly revenue from its Windows operating system); that division accounted for 35% of its revenue in the quarter ended March 31, 2019. Xbox gaming revenue rose 5% in that quarter from a year earlier. Microsoft is a buy. buy…