Latest news with #CopilotStudio
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Billionaire Bill Gates Has 67% of His Foundation's $45 Billion Portfolio Invested in 3 Marvelous Stocks
Key Points The Gates Foundation Trust reflects the influence of two of its biggest donors, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. While the trust's top equity holding might not be surprising, much of the rest of the portfolio is quite a divergence from tech. These investments all have wide moats and their stocks trade near fair value. 10 stocks we like better than Microsoft › Bill Gates quit his job as CEO of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) in 2000 at age 44. He had already become the wealthiest person in the world, reaching centibillionaire status briefly in 1999. He slowly stepped back from the company he founded over the next 20 years, ultimately resigning from its board in 2020. Gates' focus over the last 25 years has shifted from building a leading technology company to solving some of the world's toughest health, equality, and educational challenges through the Gates Foundation. In that time, he and ex-wife Melinda French Gates donated about $60 billion of their wealth, making them two of the biggest donors in history. Their philanthropic giving is only outdone by Gates' friend Warren Buffett, who has been a longtime donor to his foundation. While Gates' fortune was built on Microsoft, he's mostly followed Buffett's investing style when it comes to his personal portfolio and that of the Gates Foundation trust fund. Buffett is a big proponent of the idea of putting a lot of your capital to work in just a few outstanding companies. As a result, over two-thirds of the Gates Foundation's trust's marketable equity portfolio is held in just three marvelous stocks all reflecting the combined influence of Gates and Buffett. 1. Microsoft (33%) The majority of Gates' wealth comes from his stake in Microsoft, the company he co-founded in 1975. After his most recent donation to the Gates Foundation in 2022, Gates' stake in the company fell to less than 1%. Of course, 1% of a $4 trillion company is still $40 billion. The Gates Foundation still holds a significant stake in Microsoft as well, even though it regularly sells shares to fund its operations. As of its most recent 13-F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Gates Foundation held 28.5 million shares of Microsoft. Those shares are worth $14.8 billion as of this writing. Microsoft's seeing strong results across its cloud computing business, Azure, as well as its core enterprise software. Both are benefiting from growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI). Azure is now a $75 billion business, up 34% over the past year, generating a strong operating margin for Microsoft. Not only that, but Azure revenue is accelerating, as demand continues to outstrip supply. Microsoft is investing tens of billions of dollars in building capacity for AI training and inference. On the software side of the business, management is seeing strong adoption of its Copilot AI agent. Management said it surpassed 100 million monthly active users across its family of Copilot apps. Moreover, its Copilot Studio, which enables businesses to harness their own data to develop custom AI agents, saw customers create 3 million new agents over the past year. That's resulted in revenue acceleration over the past year (up 18% last quarter) as well as margin expansion. Earnings per share climbed an impressive 24% last quarter. While the stock responded positively, increased earnings expectations for the stock mean shares trade for about 34 times earnings estimates. That's an attractive price for the stock with accelerating earnings growth and tens of billions in quarterly free cash flow it can use to invest in future opportunities or return to shareholders. 2. Berkshire Hathaway (17%) Warren Buffett makes an annual donation of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) shares to the Gates Foundation every summer. Buffett earmarked 10 million Class B shares for the foundation in 2006, or 500 million shares after adjusting for splits. Every year, Buffett donates 5% of the remaining earmarked shares as long as the Gates Foundation's total giving from the previous year is equal to the amount donated in the previous year plus 5% of the foundation's other assets. Despite that stipulation, the foundation has managed to hold onto a good chunk of Berkshire shares. It counted 17.2 million shares as of the end of March this year. Those shares are worth about $7.9 billion as of this writing. The foundation received another 9.4 million shares on June 30, according to SEC filings. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway suffered since the company's annual meeting in May, when Buffett announced his resignation as CEO effective Jan. 1. While some of that is due to a loss of the "Buffett premium" some shareholders may have put on Berkshire Hathaway, the company has also faced some challenges. The insurance business saw outstanding results in 2024, but that's normalized in 2025. Price increases haven't added meaningful revenue while increases in payouts in the first quarter led to worse underwriting results. Additionally, Buffett hasn't seen very many opportunities to invest Berkshire's capital, leading him to leave a lot of cash on the sidelines even as stock prices continue to rise. In fact, Buffett's been a net seller of stocks for 11 consecutive quarters. Berkshire ended the second quarter with $344 billion in cash and equivalents, significantly more in value than its marketable equities. Buffett hasn't even found Berkshire shares particularly attractive, passing on the opportunity to buy back shares with Berkshire's cash hoard. Even after the pullback in price, shares trade for roughly 1.5 times book value. That's around the valuation where Buffett initially stopped repurchasing shares. However, if the stock falls meaningfully below that 1.5-times-book-value threshold, Buffett might resume buying shares, and investors should consider buying up the stock at that price as well. Berkshire's operations remain strong and the opportunity for Buffett or his team of investment managers to make a move with $344 billion at their disposal holds a lot of potential value. 3. Waste Management (17%) Waste Management (NYSE: WM) is a boring stock that the Gates Foundation Trust has held in its portfolio for decades. In fact, it's added to its stake in the company, and it now holds 35.2 million shares (up from 1.2 million shares in 2002). Those shares are worth about $7.5 billion as of this writing. The waste collection and disposal company has seen strong organic growth over the last few years, with revenue climbing 6% per year from 2022 through 2024. That's continued in 2025, growing 5.4% in its most recent quarter. On top of that organic growth, management has made strategic acquisitions that have been accretive. Its most recent acquisition, Stericycle, pushed Waste Management into the medical waste space. Rebranded as WM Healthcare Solutions, the business contributed about 10% of Waste Management net operating revenue in the second quarter. The company managed to produce strong operating margins despite taking on the lower-margin medical waste business. Last quarter's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin of 29.9% was essentially in line with last year's margin without the Healthcare Solutions business. As management unlocks synergies in the acquisition and scales the business, it should see strong improvements in profitability over time. That margin expansion is supported by Waste Management's incomparable position in the industry thanks to its landfill portfolio. New entrants face high barriers to entry as regulatory hurdles make it impractical to develop new landfills. Additionally, Waste Management's scale gives it a better margin profile as it's able to develop denser routes and benefit from economies of scale. Despite Waste Management's dominant position in the industry, the stock trades at a lower valuation than its two biggest competitors. At an enterprise value of 15 times forward EBITDA estimates, it's a fair price to pay for a company with expanding EBITDA margins and strong organic revenue growth. Should you buy stock in Microsoft right now? Before you buy stock in Microsoft, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Microsoft wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $653,427!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,119,863!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,060% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 4, 2025 Adam Levy has positions in Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends Waste Management and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Billionaire Bill Gates Has 67% of His Foundation's $45 Billion Portfolio Invested in 3 Marvelous Stocks was originally published by The Motley Fool
Business Wire
30-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Nokod Security CTO to Present Session at Black Hat USA 2025 on Mitigating Security Risks in Citizen Developer Environments
NEW YORK & TEL AVIV--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nokod Security, the security company for citizen application development platforms, today announced that its CTO and co-founder, Amichai Shulman, will speak at the Black Hat USA 2025 conference in Las Vegas. His talk, entitled 'Of the Citizens, By the Citizens, For the Citizens: Security Risks in Citizen Developer Environments and How to Mitigate Them,' will examine the cybersecurity blind spots introduced by no-code platforms and autonomous AI agents—and how enterprises can regain control. Amichai Shulman will reveal how AI-powered no-code tools and citizen-developed apps expand the enterprise attack surface, demonstrate real-world threats, and present a practical framework—with live demos—for securing democratized application environments. Share Nokod Security will also be demonstrating its security platform for no-code development at Black Hat USA Booth #6223. WHO: Amichai Shulman, CTO and co-founder of Nokod Security, is an internationally recognized expert and researcher in data and application security. He was previously co-founder and CTO at Imperva for more than 15 years. Amichai is a frequent conference speaker and industry authority on cybersecurity. As an investor and advisor, he has guided successful startups, including Intsights and SkyFence. Amichai is also an Adjunct Professor at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. WHAT: With no-code platforms like Power Platform and Copilot Studio empowering business users to build software autonomously, enterprises are experiencing a surge in applications and workflows created outside of traditional IT oversight. This trend—known as citizen development—is reshaping software delivery, but also introducing a rapidly expanding and unprotected attack surface. In this session, Amichai Shulman will explore: Real-world security risks of citizen-developed apps and automations How AI-driven no-code tools TRULY increase an organization's attack surface and exposure A practical framework for mitigating risks across democratized app development Quick demos of emerging attack techniques targeting these environments WHEN: Wednesday, August 6, 2025 from 2:05 PM – 2:25 PM PDT WHERE: Black Hat USA 2025, Startup City Theater, Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas HOW: To arrange a one-on-one interview with Amichai Shulman at Black Hat or after the event, contact Marc Gendron at marc@ or 617-877-7480. About Nokod Security Nokod Security is the security company for no-code development. The Nokod Security Platform protects enterprises from security risks introduced by no-code, RPA (robotic process automation) and AI Agent development created in a wide range of platforms, including Microsoft Power Platform, UiPath, ServiceNow, Salesforce, and more. The company's management team were founders of Imperva and SecuredTouch (now Ping Identity). Nokod has received investments from Acrew Capital, Meron Capital, and Flint Capital. For more information about Nokod, follow us on X and LinkedIn. To schedule a demo, visit or contact us at info@
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Amazon's Azure Still Has More Room To Run
Oppenheimer just lifted its view on Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and now tags it as an Outperform with a six-hundred-dollar price target. They believe the stock has room to run once investors fully appreciate how AI is fueling Azure's growth. Brian Schwartz and his team point out that cloud and AI revenue aren't fully reflected in today's share price. They compare Azure's trajectory to how AWS has supported Amazon's valuation for years and expect new tools like Copilot Studio to spark another wave of enterprise spending. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Sign with MSFT. What really caught their eye is Microsoft's rare mix of fast expansion and healthy profit margins. This Rule of Sixty combination at such a massive scale is something few companies can pull off and it underpins their case for a premium multiple. Even though the first roll-out of Copilot didn't quite live up to the hype, Oppenheimer thinks the next generation of AI offerings will drive more sustained usage and revenue. That optimism has the stock trading higher in premarket action as investors weigh the potential upside. If Microsoft hits its stride with these AI initiatives, the path to that six-hundred-dollar target looks much more attainable. It's a story about long-term leadership in software rather than short-term hype. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MSFT vs. PEGA: Which Agentic AI Vendor is a Better Buy in 2H25?
The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution has entered a new phase with the emergence of agentic AI — systems capable of autonomous decision-making and task execution rather than merely assisting human users. Two prominent players in this space, Microsoft MSFT and Pegasystems PEGA, are taking distinctly different approaches to capitalize on this transformative technology. Microsoft leverages its massive cloud infrastructure and enterprise software ecosystem to integrate agentic capabilities across its portfolio, while Pegasystems focuses on specialized workflow automation and legacy system modernization powered by AI companies recently announced significant expansions of their agentic AI offerings, with Microsoft evolving Copilot into autonomous digital workers and Pega enhancing its Blueprint platform to automatically transform legacy systems into modern applications. The timing of these announcements, coupled with strong financial performance from both companies, makes for a compelling comparison as investors seek exposure to the next wave of AI delve deep and closely compare the fundamentals of the two stocks to determine which one is a better investment now. Microsoft's approach to agentic AI represents a comprehensive platform strategy that spans its entire technology stack. The company's third-quarter fiscal 2025 results demonstrated continued momentum, with total revenues reaching $70.1 billion, up 13% year over year. Microsoft Cloud revenues of $42.4 billion grew 22% in constant currency, with Azure showing particularly strong performance at 33% growth, including 16 percentage points from AI services company's agentic AI strategy centers on transforming Copilot from a simple assistant into autonomous digital workers capable of reasoning, planning, and acting independently. Microsoft processed more than 100 trillion tokens during the quarter, representing a five-fold increase year over year, indicating massive adoption of its AI services. The company has introduced specialized agents like Sales Agent and Customer Service Agent while enabling customers to build custom agents through Copilot Studio, with more than 230,000 organizations already using the scale advantages are evident in its infrastructure investments, with capital expenditures of $21.4 billion in the quarter supporting long-term monetization. The company's diverse revenue streams provide stability, though this same diversification may limit the upside potential from any single technology trend. Azure's strong performance demonstrates Microsoft's ability to capture enterprise AI workloads, but the company's massive size means incremental growth from agentic AI represents a smaller percentage impact on overall Zacks Consensus Estimate for Microsoft's fiscal 2025 earnings is pegged at $13.36 per share, indicating a 13.22% year-over-year increase. Microsoft Corporation price-consensus-chart | Microsoft Corporation Quote Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar. Pegasystems presents a compelling pure-play opportunity in enterprise agentic AI with its specialized focus on workflow automation and legacy system modernization. The company's first-quarter 2025 results showcased accelerating momentum, with Annual Contract Value (ACV) growing more than 13% year over year and Pega Cloud ACV surging 23%. The company generated exceptional free cash flow of $202 million, demonstrating the profitability of its subscription model revolutionary Blueprint platform represents a breakthrough in agentic AI applications, enabling organizations to automatically analyze and convert legacy system assets into modern cloud applications. This addresses a massive market opportunity, as Pega research indicates 88% of IT decision makers cite technical debt as impacting competitive agility. The enhanced Blueprint capabilities now leverage agentic AI to ingest diverse inputs, including videos, documentation, code, and UI screens, dramatically accelerating digital transformation timelines from months to company's focused approach to enterprise workflow automation positions it perfectly for the agentic AI revolution. Unlike broader platform providers, Pega has built its entire value proposition around intelligent automation and decision-making, making agentic AI a natural evolution rather than an add-on feature. With over 1,000 new Blueprints created weekly — more than double the rate from months earlier — customer adoption is accelerating rapidly. The company's smaller scale means successful agentic AI implementations can drive significant percentage growth in key Zacks Consensus Estimate for PEGA's 2025 earnings is pegged at $1.88 per share, indicating a 24.5% year-over-year increase. Pegasystems Inc. price-consensus-chart | Pegasystems Inc. Quote Recent market performance reveals a telling divergence between the two stocks, with Pegasystems significantly outpacing Microsoft over the past three months. PEGA shares have surged 39.5% compared to Microsoft's 26% rise, with Pegasystems also outperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector. This superior price performance reflects growing investor recognition of Pega's specialized positioning in the agentic AI market and the accelerating adoption of its Blueprint platform Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The valuation metrics present an intriguing contrast that further supports Pegasystems' investment appeal. Microsoft trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93x, commanding a significant premium that reflects its market dominance and diversified revenue streams but also suggests limited valuation expansion potential. In stark contrast, Pegasystems trades at a more modest 13.2x P/E multiple despite its stronger recent performance and focused exposure to high-growth agentic AI applications. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research While Microsoft offers stability and comprehensive AI capabilities, Pegasystems presents superior upside potential for the second half of 2025. Pega's specialized focus on enterprise workflow automation aligns perfectly with agentic AI capabilities, creating a more concentrated exposure to this transformative technology. The company's accelerating ACV growth, innovative Blueprint platform, and smaller scale mean that successful agentic AI adoption can drive outsized returns. Investors should consider buying Pegasystems stock to capitalize on its focused agentic AI strategy while holding or waiting for better entry points in Microsoft, where AI represents incremental rather than transformational growth potential. PEGA currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), whereas MSFT has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Pegasystems Inc. (PEGA) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Hans India
03-06-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Microsoft lays off more employees after huge job cut in AI era
New Delhi: Tech giant Microsoft has cut hundreds of more jobs just weeks after reducing nearly 3 per cent of its global workforce in the AI era. As per a filing with Washington state's Employment Security Department, 305 additional employees in Redmond, Washington have been asked to leave. A company spokesperson said in a statement the latest headcount reduction is in addition to the 6,000 job cuts announced last month, which is roughly 3 per cent of its global workforce. "We continue to implement organisational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace," the spokesperson was quoted as saying in reports. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said that the recent layoffs were not linked to employee performance but due to organisational restructuring. Addressing staff during a town-hall meeting, Nadella said the layoffs were necessary to realign teams in accordance with Microsoft's evolving priorities, particularly its growing focus on artificial intelligence. He acknowledged the emotional toll of the decision but underscored that it was driven by strategic shifts, not shortcomings in productivity or talent. Last month, Frank X Shaw, Chief Communications Officer, Microsoft, said that 'We've entered the era of AI agents'. 'Thanks to groundbreaking advancements in reasoning and memory, AI models are now more capable and efficient, and we're seeing how AI systems can help us all solve problems in new ways. For example, 15 million developers are already using GitHub Copilot, and features like agent mode and code review are streamlining the way they code, check, deploy and troubleshoot,' he said during the 'Microsoft Build 2025' event. Hundreds of thousands of customers are using Microsoft 365 Copilot to help research, brainstorm and develop solutions, and more than 230,000 organisations — including 90 per cent of the Fortune 500 — have already used Copilot Studio to build AI agents and automations.
