Microsoft is assuring the public and its stock holders that its best days are yet to come. Microsoft"s two cash cows (Windows and Office) make up the software giants main revenue. Some analysts believe that this 29 year old company is running out of steam. With all the patents and new technology Microsoft has been showing from its Research Labs it looks like Microsoft is simply taking its second breath.
If Microsoft has one message to get across to Wall Street these days, it"s that the 29-year-old company still has some solid growth in front of it. The theme of the software giant"s 2004 financial analyst meeting -- "Growth Through Innovation" -- speaks volumes about how the company wants to be portrayed to investors.
When Microsoft agreed on July 20 to hand out $75 billion over the next four years in dividends and stock repurchases, it addressed concerns raised by investors who watched growth dip from the average annual 36% pops it experienced through the 1990s to what"s expected to be single digits in the next year or two. But it also signaled to some that Microsoft"s most vibrant days might be behind it. Yet, the Redmond giant sees things otherwise. "I see incredible opportunity for an exciting, dynamic company like Microsoft," CEO Steven A. Ballmer told the roughly 300 analysts, investors, and journalists who attended the July 29 event.