MSFT - Microsoft gets 'trophy moment' with Activision court win: Wedbush

2023-07-12 07:24:55 ET

The decision by a federal court to reject the Federal Trade Commission's request to block Microsoft's ( NASDAQ: MSFT ) deal to acquire Activision Blizzard ( NASDAQ: ATVI ) is being seen as a "trophy moment" for the U.S. based tech giant, investment firm Wedbush Securities said on Wednesday.

Analyst Dan Ives, who has an outperform rating and per-share price target of $375 on Microsoft ( MSFT ), said Activision ( ATVI ) is a "key asset" for the Satya Nadella-led Microsoft and should "catalyze its consumer franchise."

"Redmond was in a fight tooth and nail style vs. the FTC to get this key consumer asset and Call of Duty franchise under its Microsoft ecosystem and now will have the Activision trophy in its HQ by next week," Ives wrote in an investor note.

Ives also added that he believes this is a "major black eye" for the FTC and Chairperson Lina Khan, who many believe did not have the merit to block the deal. As such, there is the belief now that the "floodgates now could open" for tech companies to do more acquisitions as this decision is important for the broader tech industry.

Following Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley's ruling, Ives said he thinks Microsoft ( MSFT ) has a "green light" to close the deal before July 18 and that the company's issues with the U.K. and its Competition & Markets Authority regulatory body will be resolved in time to get the deal done.

On Tuesday, it was reported that Microsoft ( MSFT ) had offered to make a small divestiture to meet the objections of the UK's antitrust regulator to its planned $69B Activision ( ATVI ) deal.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) shares were up fractionally in pre-market trading on Wednesday, while Activision ( ATVI ) continued to inch closer to the $95 deal price.

More on Activision-Microsoft deal

• Activision downgraded at Raymond James as Microsoft deal likely to close soon
• FTC reportedly leaning toward quick appeal of Microsoft-Activision loss
• Activision Blizzard: Time To Say Goodbye (Rating Downgrade)

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