Software powerhouse Microsoft (MSFT) on Thursday introduced Windows 11, the biggest upgrade to its PC operating system in six years. Microsoft stock rose on the news.
Windows 11 features a refreshed design with a new user interface and a Start menu. It also provides PC performance improvements and integrates the Teams video conferencing app. Windows 11 is the successor to Windows 10, which came out in July 2015.
The Redmond, Wash.-based company also has revamped the Microsoft Store for downloading apps and content. Plus, Microsoft is bringing Android apps for the first time through the store.
Microsoft is taking steps to make its app store more developer-friendly. That includes allowing developers to use their own e-commerce system and keep 100% of the revenue from apps sold on the platform. If developers use Microsoft’s e-commerce system, developers get 85% of the revenue and Microsoft takes a 15% cut. That compares with Apple‘s (AAPL) App Store, which takes a 30% cut of revenue from larger developers and 15% from small developers and requires all developers to use its e-commerce system.
Microsoft Stock Rises After Windows 11 Reveal
Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said the world needs open platforms to spark creativity and innovation.
“We are reimagining everything from the operating system itself to the browser to the store and the feed,” Nadella said on a webcast. “This is the first version of a new era of Windows. We’re building for the next decade and beyond.”
On the stock market today, Microsoft stock climbed 0.5% to 266.69.
Windows 11 Out Later This Year
Windows 11 will be available through a free upgrade for eligible Windows 10 PCs and on new PCs beginning this holiday season.
The new Windows operating system comes as Microsoft is seeing a slow erosion of its PC market share. While Windows still runs about three-quarters of the world’s computers, the operating system has been losing ground to Apple’s MacOS and Google’s Chrome OS.
UBS analyst Karl Keirstead estimates that Windows will account for 14% of Microsoft’s revenue this fiscal year. But with a gross profit margin of 90% to 95%, Windows represents about 19% of the company’s total gross profit, he said.
Windows “is central to Microsoft’s franchise with enterprises and consumers,” he said in a note to clients on Monday.
Keirstead rates Microsoft stock as a buy with a price target of 300.
Microsoft Stock Tops $2 Trillion Market Cap
On Tuesday, Microsoft stock reached a market capitalization of $2 trillion in intraday trading. It is just the second company after Apple to reach a $2 trillion market value. Microsoft stock closed above the $2 trillion marks for the first time on Thursday.
On June 21, Microsoft stock hit a buy point of 263.29 out of a cup base, according to IBD MarketSmith charts. The 5% buy zone extends to 276.45, based on IBD trading guidelines.
Microsoft stock is on the IBD Leaderboard and Long-Term Leaders stock lists.
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