Call of Duty who?... Microsoft scored a major contract to provide augmented reality headsets to the US Army. It could be worth ~$22B over 10 years — more than double the Pentagon "JEDI" cloud contract it won less than two years ago. The software giant will deliver 120K custom headsets based on its HoloLens AR tech. The headset is a long way away from Office 365: it allows soldiers to fight and train more effectively, overlaying holograms like maps in their field of vision. Microsoft shares jumped 4% on signs it can generate significant $$$ from futuristic products that take years to develop.
If IPOs were graded... online learning platform Coursera would've passed. Coursera stock jumped 17% for the week, after the nine-year-old company went public on Wednesday. It offers online classes and degrees from 150 universities, lowering costs and barriers to education. As we schooled-from-home during the pandemic, Coursera's 2020 sales soared 59% from 2019 (but it's still unprofitable). It now has 77M "Learners," 30M of which joined during Covid times. Off-campus, 25% of Fortune 500 companies use it for employee professional development. As tuition prices soar and tech takes over, e-learning could continue to grow in the post-pandemic world.