Is Microsoft The Next Google?

Written by Pablo Palatnik on October 30, 2007

It’s funny that the question for so long was “is Google the next Microsoft?” Could this question now be reversed? I’m not a financial analyst but you don’t have to be when you look at what each stock is worth. Now, how much does a stock price say about a company? It speaks volumes on current revenue (not all the time), expected revenue, future outlook, current events, and more.

Goog (Google Stock): $679.23 as of Oct. 30, 2007
MSFT (Microsoft Stock): $34.57 as of Oct. 30, 2007

I pose the question in the title financially. Could Microsoft raise their stock price to that of Google’s at some point? The stock price can’t determine that Google is in fact a bigger company than Microsoft but I believe it to be (or use it as) an indicator or public and future outlook. I’d personally value Microsoft’s stock to be worth more.

Microsoft appears in Forbes Fortune 500 companies at #49 in 2007 & Google at number #241. So, why the craze with Google and why is Microsoft seen as the company that tries to catch up? It comes down to stock price and future outlook.

If you ask the general public which company is bigger, without a question people would answer “Microsoft, of course.” Indeed, it is. The buzz is so loud around the net (blogoshere, news sites, and stock watch) about the Goog, which many see Microsoft as the company that is trailing…and really, it’s only trailing in terms of search.

Let’s look at the latest companies Acquisitions:

2007 Microsoft:
August 30, 2007 -Parlano
July 26, 2007 -AdECN, Inc.
May 18, 2007 -aQuantive, Inc.
May 3, 2007 -ScreenTonic
March 14, 2007 -Tellme Networks, Inc.
February 26, 2007 -Medstory Inc.

2007 Google:
1. 2007-07-09 - Google to Acquire Postini
- Services for Message Security, Archiving, Encryption, and Policy Enforcement
2. 2007-07-02 - Google Acquires GrandCentral Communications
- Services for Managing Voice Communications
3. 2007-06-19 - Google Acquires Zenter
- Online Slide Presentations
4. 2007-06-05 - Google Acquires PeakStream Inc
- Multiprocessor and GPU Software
5. 2007-06-01 - Google Acquires Feedburner
- Feed Distribution and Management Tools
6. 2007-05-30 - Google Acquires Panoramio
- Community Photos Website (Works with Google Earth)
7. 2007-05-11 - Google Acquires Green Border Technologies
- Secure Connections for Web Browsing and Email
8. 2007-04-19 - Google Acquires Marratech - Video Conferencing Software
9. 2007-04-17 - Google Acquires Tonic Systems
- Presentation Creation and Document Conversion Technology
10. 2007-04-13 - Google Acquires Doubleclick
- Advertising Technology Platform
11.2007-03-16 - Google Acquires Trendalyzer
- Presentation Software
12. 2007-03-16 - Google Acquires Adscape Media
- In-Game Advertising for Video Games
13. 2007-01-00 - Google Acquires Xunlei (Partial Acquisition)
- File Sharing Website

With more acquisitions from Google, Microsoft has stated recently to buy 20 small companies a year! ((*Tip: Start something cool and innovative online that could match Microsoft’s portfolio and offer it to them!))

Now the question stands, do you think Microsoft can achieve the Google stock price? Is Google just way over priced? Can MSN someday, somehow, catch up to Google’s search market share, at least catch up? If there is one prediction I can make is this…If Microsoft purchases Yahoo, which I think is very possible, we have a search competition on our hands.

Google Stock To Hit $700

Written by Pablo Palatnik on October 9, 2007

Wow…stocks always amazed me, specially the stocks of companies I have close relationships too…I do consider myself to have a strong relationship with Google cause Google is what makes part of my company and what I do WORK.

“Average Price Target Rising - $619.25/share, Up $11.25/share From Two Weeks Ago; Two Upgrades Today from Bank of America and Lehman; Google to Show YouTube Videos With Ads on Publishers’ Web Sites”

Play Video

Google May Find $700 Stock Soon, Lehman Says Bloomberg-Clip - (BLOOM-Clip) Oct. 09, 2007. 08:35 AM EST Average Price Target Rising - $619.25/share, Up $11.25/share From Two Weeks Ago; Two Upgrades Today from Bank of America and Lehman; Google to Show YouTube Videos With Ads on Publishers’ Web Sites

What does this mean? Well…the stock says a lot about a company and where they are headed. At this point, Yahoo and MSN are pretty stable in their stocks win or lose a couple of points per day. Google is the talk of the town in the online financial sector. Can it rise to $700? I’ll go ahead and say probably way more as it will continue to rise.

Yahoo! Could Break Up For 66% More Value

Written by Pablo Palatnik on October 6, 2007

So much speculation is going around about Yahoo now breaking up the company, why? According to financial experts, if Yahoo breaks the company apart…the value of Yahoo (stock wise) will be worth more. It doesn’t come from a user process sense (in terms of how the company runs,) but purely for financial reasons and stock holders pressure.

$16 Million with Google Adsense, Oh Mama MIVA

Written by Pablo Palatnik on October 4, 2007

Financial news website Motley Fool had a report titled, “Is Google Broken?” I really suggest you read it, I thought it was a very interesting article but here is what struck me.

MIVA…you’ve heard of them right? Second tier engine…not a big name…not mentioned anywhere…public company. In its third quarter, the company pulled $36.7 million to $37.1 million in revenue if I understood right…that’s a lot of money, agreed?

How do you pull that…a second tier engine like MIVA. Interestingly enough, Google Adsense plays a big role in the MIVA business model. You can read all about it in the article but let’s take a quick look at the numbers:

“MIVA generated approximately $0.07 per lead on its 240 million clickthroughs during the third quarter of 2006. By outsourcing some of the billable ad space on its online destinations, search portals, widgets, and desktop toolbars to Google through the Google AdSense program, MIVA stood to make more on each generated lead, even after Google took its cut.”

If they made .7 cents a lead with 240 million click through and I’m doing the numbers right…that is $16,800,000.00. Arbitrage?????