No More NDAs: Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Slumps After Change in Local Government Dealings

We know that tech giant Microsoft MSFT -1.60% ▼ has been on a tear lately when it comes to building data centers. And recent reports note that Microsoft is also changing the way it sets up these data centers as well. Now, it will no longer insist on nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) when it sets up data centers. This move did not sit well with investors, though, who sent Microsoft shares sliding nearly 1.5% in Friday afternoon’s trading.

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Microsoft used NDAs regularly, particularly in the early days of building data centers. Mostly Microsoft did this to “…protect sensitive commercial information,” reports noted. The problem, however, is that the NDAs worked as intended, and area residents started to wonder just what was being hidden from them. And they in turn used the fact that information was being hidden as leverage to turn on the data center concept in general.

Thus, Microsoft is not only halting its practice of issuing NDAs, but also is reaching out to current NDA holders to terminate those agreements. Microsoft wants to “…strengthen…public trust,” and realizes that it really cannot do that by deliberately hiding information.

X and S are Two Different Beasts

Originally, when Microsoft released the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, people wondered just how much difference there would be between the two. After all, it was hard enough to get either, and people were willing to pay less for the much more readily available Series S units back when they first came out. But recent footage of the new Crimson Desert game does show off the differences between S and X quite well.

Side-by-side comparisons of the two games indeed revealed that finer details are much more visible on the Series X than on the Series S. Moreover, the Series S will only offer two selectable graphics modes, while the X will delivery three different modes. This may not be a huge difference; after all, this is only one game on an aging console in general. But the difference is certainly noticeable, and may pose issues going into the next generation.

Is Microsoft a Buy, Hold or Sell?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on MSFT stock based on 33 Buys and three Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 0.57% loss in its share price over the past year, the average MSFT price target of $591.56 per share implies 54.4% upside potential.

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