When tech giant Microsoft (MSFT) decided it was going to pull back on the notion of buying its way into ecological perfection, concern mounted from the people whose technology went into making that purity happen. And now, organizations around ecological awareness are clapping back in Microsoft’s direction, calling it out for its move away from environmental protection. Investors too seemed a bit concerned, as evidenced by the modest drop in Microsoft share prices in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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Over 50 different environmentalist organizations, from Greenpeace USA to Friends of the Earth U.S., to the Hip Hop Caucus, all got together to co-sign a letter denouncing Microsoft and demanding it stick to its carbon goals. Microsoft was originally committed to what was known as “100/100/0 by 2030,” a philosophy that called for 100% of its energy, 100% of the time, to be matched with zero-carbon energy. But Microsoft backed off as it became clear its artificial intelligence (AI) aspirations would take a lot more juice.
Corporate climate campaigner for one of the co-signing organizations, Stand.earth, Rachel Kitchin, noted, “It was already clear that Microsoft has been veering off course on its climate leadership, but if it abandons the north star of its renewable energy commitments, it will never find its way back.” Kitchin then amplified the statement, saying “If the company wants any community to trust it with their health and energy security, they need to recommit to clean energy.”
What Is a Bad Game, Anyway?
With the Steam Machine getting closer to actually taking live pre-orders, Microsoft seems to be circling the wagons around just what exactly a “bad game” really is. With complaints mounting around a game known as Mixtape—perhaps chief among these complaints being that a lot of the game does not require input from the player to complete—determining just what makes a “bad” game bad is front and center.
Microsoft noted, “Reminder: just because you’re not personally into a game, doesn’t mean it’s a bad game.” This is a reasonable enough point to make, and Microsoft desperately needs to interject perspective into the Xbox community. After all, the Steam Machine is closing in, and with Valve about to add a reservation system to its hardware ordering, the date for pre-orders might be sooner than anyone expects.
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 two Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After an 8.12% loss in its share price over the past year, the average MSFT price target of $559.98 per share implies 36.77% upside potential.
