Less Microsoft Is More as Investors Eye Breakup: Real M&A

Microsoft Corp.’s new leadership could almost double the company’s valuation by parting with a good chunk of the businesses it uses to court consumers.

Jettisoning units such as Xbox video-game consoles and the Bing search engine may be the change Microsoft needs to rejuvenate growth as Satya Nadella takes over as chief executive officer, said Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc., which owns Microsoft shares. The world’s biggest software maker should go further by also splitting off Windows and smartphones to focus on providing services to business customers, said Stifel Financial Corp.