One of the simplest and most fundamental offerings at tech giant Microsoft (MSFT) is its Edge browser. Almost as fundamental to Microsoft as Windows itself, Edge is Microsoft’s flagship web browsing tool. And apparently, based on recent reports, it is also laden with malware. But Microsoft made a huge step toward fixing that state, shutting down 119 Edge extensions that hid malware and other malicious tools in their operations. The news seemed to disturb Microsoft shareholders more than relieve them, and Microsoft shares slipped modestly in Monday afternoon’s trading.
The 119 Edge extensions in question, reports noted, were connected to StegoAd, a portmanteau of “steganography” and “adware.” StegoAd in turn was connected to a “single threat actor” that had apparently been operating since 2021. Many of the extensions were simple things, the kind that most would use without question. Ad blockers, video downloaders, translators, and even virtual private networks (VPNs) were involved.
Worse, the extensions actually did what they were purported to do, and even got reviews from previous users. But the tools also contained malicious code, which was only spotted after a stack of evasion checks, reports noted. Many of the malicious code payloads never actually installed, reports note, and the 119 extensions had a collective user base of around 2.6 million users. But with the extensions now out of the picture, Microsoft users are that much safer.
Xbox Fires Back on GTA 6 Bloodbath
Meanwhile, recent reports emerged that suggested Sony (SONY) was brutalizing Microsoft in terms of preorder numbers for one of the decade’s most hotly anticipated games: Grand Theft Auto 6. Reports noted that Sony preorders are actually beating Microsoft preorders by a factor of eight to one. But Microsoft disputes this assertion, saying that the methodology used to gather data was flawed.
The data in question used to reach that eight-to-one projection came from affiliate data, Microsoft noted, as opposed to actual preorder data. An Xbox representative noted, “This doesn’t represent pre-order data. We’ve had record orders. People should wait for real data and not clicks on affiliate links.” And there is some validity there. But given that the affiliate data is outpacing Microsoft’s by such a wide margin, there is also some validity that PlayStation preorders are likely running higher than their Xbox equivalent.
Is Microsoft a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on MSFT stock based on 35 Buys and one Hold assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 25.02% loss in its share price over the past year, the average MSFT price target of $562.10 per share implies 52.1% upside potential.
