MICROSOFT AIMS FOR $20 BILLION BUYBACK: UBS

New York
The Economic TimesMicrosoft Corp will buy back as much as $20 billion of its stock to boost its flagging share price, Bloomberg News quoted a top-rated software analyst as saying.

Shares of the software giant rose about 1 percent in Wednesday's pre-market trade.

UBS analyst Heather Bellini expects Microsoft to complete the repurchase over the next three months, and that the amount is at least five times larger than its average share buyback per quarter in the last fiscal year, according to the Wednesday Bloomberg article.

Microsoft representatives could not be immediately reached for comment. Analysts have been debating how Microsoft might revive its share price, which is down 26 percent so far this year.

Bellini was ranked the best software analyst by Institutional Investor magazine last year.

Microsoft has been aggressive in buying back shares. It has roughly $3 billion remaining of a $36.2 billion five-year share repurchase program it started in 2006.

Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co analyst David Hilal suggested late last month that Microsoft should issue debt for the first time in its history to fund a buyback.

Hilal's research showed that a $20 billion leveraged buyback would boost its calendar 2009 earnings 7 cents a share. A $35 billion repurchase would add 13 cents and a $50 billion buyback would add 20 cents.