How to trade Microsoft shares
Microsoft is one of the most valuable companies in the world, reaching a $1 trillion valuation in April 2019. If you’re interested in trading Microsoft shares, you can learn more about it in this step-by-step guide.
How to buy Microsoft shares
You can trade Microsoft shares with IG. If you want to speculate on share price movements, you’ll trade via derivatives.
Trading Microsoft shares
You can trade Microsoft shares using CFDs. When trading shares with IG, you trade using leverage, which means you only need a small deposit (margin) to open your position. You’ll still get exposure to the full value of the trade, and your profit or loss will be based on the total position size.
Remember that you don’t own the shares when you trade them, you simply speculate on share price moves. This enables you to go long or short. If you think the Microsoft share price will go up, you go long and if you think the share price will fall, you go short.
When you’re ready to close your position, go to the ‘positions’ tab, select the one you want to close and click on the ‘close’ button.
Besides strong fundamentals and a high demand for the stock, Microsoft’s share price is also driven by what its competitors are doing. For example, Apple and Google are also at the forefront of global technology services.
Microsoft has undergone nine stock splits since its IPO. The most recent was a two-for-one split in 2003, which means shareholders received an extra share for every share they owned. With stock splits, the amount of shares increase, while the share price decreases in order not to affect the value of a shareholding or the company’s market cap. After the 2003 split, one original share equals 288 shares. As of 2019, Microsoft pays a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share.
Microsoft key personnel: who manages the company?
Microsoft has several executives that manage the company in different regions across the globe. The key players are:
Satya Nadella | Chief executive officer |
Brad Smith | Chief legal officer |
Bill Gates | Co-founder and technology advisor |
Amy Hood | Chief financial officer |
Jean-Phillippe Courtois | President of global sales, marketing and operations |
Microsoft also has a board of directors, which consists of 14 members and includes Nadella and Gates. John Thompson is the chairman of the board.
What is Microsoft’s business model?
Originally, Microsoft relied on licensing its software and the Windows operating system to make money, but its business model has evolved over the years. It all changed in 2014 when Microsoft started shifting its focus to product integration.
The Microsoft business model can be broken into four segments:
- Productivity and business processes: information, communication and productivity
- Intelligent cloud: server products and cloud services
- Personal computing: user and developer interests
- Corporate and other: alternative products and services
Microsoft fundamental analysis: how to analyse Microsoft
If you’re considering buying or selling Microsoft shares, you must first conduct fundamental analysis on the company. This includes studying Microsoft’s financials and a range of factors that affect the business. You can analyse the health of the economy and its sectors, study news reports, consider the competition, explore supply and demand, and evaluate the cost of production. By gathering this information, you can identify Microsoft’s inherent value.
Microsoft’s share value can be studied by using metrics such as the earnings per share (EPS), price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), the return on equity (ROE) and the dividend yield.
- Microsoft’s EPS determines the value attached to each share and whether the business is profitable or not. EPS is calculated by dividing Microsoft’s profit by the number of outstanding shares
- Microsoft’s P/E ratio outlines how much you must spend on shares to make $1 in profit. P/E ratio is calculated by dividing Microsoft’s current market value per share by its EPS
- Microsoft’s ROE measures how much income the company makes on assets compared to shareholder investments. ROE is calculated by dividing Microsoft’s net income by stakeholder equity
- Microsoft’s dividend yield compares the company’s annual dividends to the share price. Dividend yield, expressed as a percentage, is calculated by dividing the dividend amount by the share price, and then multiplying by 100
Learn more about fundamental analysis in this comprehensive guide
This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Ltd and IG Markets South Africa Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.
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