New 'Halo' Game Could Be Microsoft's Biggest Ever: Here's How It Helps Shareholders

• Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) has seen a 16.6 percent increase in its share price year-to-date, with a high of $54.92 on November 6.
• Piper Jaffray’s Katherine R. Egbert has reiterated an Overweight rating on the company, while raising the price target from $53 to $64.
• Egbert mentioned that "Halo 5: Guardians" has been the Xbox Store’s best-selling digital title during launch week, with the game generating sales worth $400 million in its first week.

Analyst Katherine Egbert expects the game to “spur additional software and console sales, which come on at a lower overall gross margin.”

With the most successful launch week among all the Halo games, "Halo 5: Guardians" saw users logging over 21 million hours playing the game.

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According to the Piper Jaffray report, “Revenue upside in the December quarter could come from increased Xbox Live subscriptions, full game digital downloads, expansion packs, and micro-transactions.”

However, Egbert cautioned that previous releases of Halo had led to downward pressure on the company’s overall gross margin. “While Halo 5 is unlikely to propel XboxOne into the #1 spot, it should help make up some of the gap and solidify Microsoft's #2 position,” Egbert stated.

Egbert believes that the “resurgence” of Xbox and the Halo franchise indicates Microsoft’s renewed focus on more customer-centric growth.