Tech firms swimming in cash, but what do to with it?
biz.yahoo.com
<<...Take Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - News), for example. The No. 1 software company is a cash-generating machine, with $38.7 billion in cash and short-term investments, more than Ford, ChevronTexaco and Wal-Mart combined.
Shareholders may soon start asking for some of it back. After all, spending on information technology has been lackluster, the stock market has sagged, and some of the biggest names in technology, such as Intel Corp., are seeing their markets mature.
"We're past the point where we have the unlimited faith of investors," says Henry Asher, president of New York-based money management firm Northstar Group, which owns Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle and other tech stocks.
In addition to Microsoft, Cisco Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:CSCO - News), the biggest computer networking gear maker, boasts $21 billion in cash and investments, Intel (NasdaqNM:INTC - News) has $8.96 billion and database powerhouse Oracle Corp. (NasdaqNM:ORCL - News) has $5.84 billion...>> |
