Microsoft shares gain for a second straight session on Monday, company to utilize Nvidia’s real-time ray tracing tech for more realistic graphics on Minecraft

Microsoft Corp (MSFT) intends to utilize Nvidia Corp’s real-time ray tracing technology in order to ensure more realistic graphics on its Minecraft video game on PCs, the software company said on Monday.

Microsoft shares closed higher for a second consecutive trading session on NASDAQ on Monday. The stock went up 1.67% ($2.28) to $138.41, after touching an intraday high at $138.55, or a price level not seen since August 13th ($138.80).

Shares of Microsoft Corporation have surged 36.27% so far in 2019 compared with a 16.63% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Microsoft’s stock went up 18.74%, thus, it again outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

Ray tracing represents a rendering method, which allows for image generation by tracing the path of light as pixels in an image plane and by simulating the effects as it encounters virtual objects. The use of such a technique produces a very high degree of visual realism, usually higher compared to what typical scanline rendering techniques are capable of generating.

“I think we’ve put all of the pieces in place to bring ray tracing into the future of games. The number of blockbuster games that have adopted RTX is really snowballing,” Jen-Hsun Huang, Nvidia Corps Chief Executive Officer, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Nvidia had said that the real-time ray tracing technology would also be featured on games such as “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” by Activision Blizzard, “Watch Dogs: Legion” by Ubisoft Toronto and “Synced: Off Planet” by Tencent NExT Studios.

Meanwhile, in May, Microsoft Corp said that as many as 176 million versions of Minecraft have been sold since the games full release in 2011.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 29 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Microsoft Corp’s stock price, have a median target of $155.00, with a high estimate of $170.00 and a low estimate of $93.00. The median estimate represents an 11.99% upside compared to the closing price of $138.41 on August 19th.

The same media also reported that at least 27 out of 32 surveyed investment analysts had rated Microsoft Corp’s stock as “Buy”, while 1 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, other 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.