A bit of gray may turn Microsoft into a blue chip
Seattle PI | at | by Mike
We all slow down as we get older, businesses and people alike.
Microsoft was one of the great technology growth stories in its youth in the 1980s and 1990s, and it is still barely 30 years old. But it is looking distinctly middle aged these days -- wealthier than it used to be, but slower, too.
The company appears to be entering a period of maturity, but its valuation suggests that many investors fear something worse: a corporate midlife crisis. The stock is near an eight-year floor and the price-earnings ratio has never been lower.