Microsoft

Microsoft’s (MSFT) announcement this week that it will hire key talent from artificial intelligence research firm Inflection to spearhead a new Microsoft AI business will further cement its leadership and ability to strategically navigate the evolving market, Macquarie said in a note emailed Friday. The brokerage reiterated an outperform rating and $455 price target on Microsoft’s shares. On Tuesday, the company said it was hiring Mustafa Suleyman, chief executive of startup Inflection AI, and Inflection Chief Scientist Karen Simonyan to lead Microsoft AI, a new organization focused on advancing Copilot and other consumer AI products and research. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but Reuters reported the moves as a licensing deal with Inflection valued at $650 million. Microsoft declined to comment to MT Newswires on the structure and price of the deal. “The decision to create a separate AI unit staffed principally by accomplished AI researchers suggests Microsoft […]

Keybanc analyst Jason Ader initiates coverage on Microsoft with a Overweight rating and announces Price Target of $490.

Microsoft Says As Part Transition, Mikhail Parakhin & His Entire Team, Including Copilot, Bing, & Edge; Misha Bilenko & GenAI Team To Report To Mustafa; Kevin Scott Continues As CTO & EVP Of AI, Responsible For All-Up AI Strategy。

Microsoft: Announces Collaboration With NVIDIA to Accelerate Healthcare and Life Sciences Innovation With Advanced Cloud, AI and Accelerated Computing Capabilities。

Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI continues to be the “uncontested leader” in artificial intelligence despite the cases filed against it by Tesla (TSLA) Chief Executive Elon Musk and The New York Times (NYT), Macquarie said in a note emailed on Monday. Musk is seeking the removal of GPT-4 from the scope of Microsoft’s intellectual property licensing agreement with OpenAI, while The New York Times sued OpenAI for copyright infringement. “But, regardless of these cases, we have seen the performance gap between GPT-4 and other models narrow, but certainly not close, throughout 2023,” the note said. Macquarie said Microsoft’s Copilot product roadmap would likely be set back if GPT-4 becomes inaccessible to the company because of any of those cases. “But we do not think it would derail its AI product initiatives by any means,” Macquarie said. Macquarie maintained its outperform rating and $455 price target on Microsoft stock.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced that Microsoft will be using Intel’s 18A process to manufacture its own chip design. The Details: The announcement was made Wednesday at Intel Foundry Direct Connect by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “We are in the midst of a very exciting platform shift that will fundamentally transform productivity for every individual organization and the entire industry,” Nadella said. “To achieve this vision, we need a reliable supply of the most advanced, high-performance and high-quality semiconductors. That’s why we are so excited to work with Intel Foundry, and why we have chosen a chip design that we plan to produce on Intel 18A process.” Intel also announced the launch of Intel Foundry as a more sustainable systems foundry business designed for the AI era and an expanded process roadmap. “AI is profoundly transforming the world and how we think about technology and the silicon that powers it,” said

Microsoft says its subscription service Game Pass now has 34 million subscribers, after last saying it had 25 million in January 2022. During a podcast, company executives say the videogame “Diablo IV” will be the first from Activision Blizzard, which Microsoft acquired in October, to come to Game Pass. The multiplayer action title launched in June for around $70 on Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony Group’s PlayStation and computers. It arrives on Game Pass, which costs $9.99 a month for a basic plan, on March 28.

Microsoft (MSFT) said Thursday it plans to invest 3.2 billion euros ($3.44 billion) over the next two years to expand the cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Germany. The investment will double the technology giant’s AI infrastructure and cloud capacity to meet Germany’s “accelerating demand” for AI services, Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a post on social media platform X. The co

Microsoft’s (MSFT) decision to end its original equipment manufacturing partnership with Qualys (QLYS) on May 1 poses potential “material” topline risks for the cloud protection and cybersecurity company, Morgan Stanley said in a research note. The Morgan Stanley analysts estimated that Microsoft likely accounts for 5% to 10% of Qualys’ yearly revenue, which totaled $489.7 million in 2022, the last year for which full results are available. “We see topline pressures increasingly probable going forward,” the analysts said, adding Qualys’ share price does not adequately reflect those risks. Morgan Stanley reiterated its underweight stock rating and $150 price target for Qualys, saying the company will need to boost sales and marketing spending during 2024, which will weigh on its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization margin this year. The share price also could see a more than 20% decline from current levels, they said. Qualys shares were down by

Microsoft (MSFT) is poised for a “healthy expansion” in fiscal 2024 operating margins after Q2 results topped forecasts with a boost from artificial intelligence, strong execution, and cost discipline, Morgan Stanley said Wednesday in a report. “Q2 results well illustrated Microsoft’s leading position in GenAI and unique ability to monetize this technology,” the investment firm said. On Tuesday, Microsoft reported Q2 earnings of $2.93 a share on revenue of $62.02 billion. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expected EPS of $2.77 on revenue of $61.13 billion. Morgan Stanley said Microsoft Azure posted a 28% growth in constant currency in Q2 with AI contributing “a remarkable” 6%. The EPS beat occurred amid hurdles related to accounting and AI investments, and mergers and acquisitions. The company’s Q3 gross and operating margin guidance stood “significantly ahead of expectations,” and Morgan Stanley said Microsoft’s solid execution, expense optimization and position in the GenAI innovation cycle

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 01/31/2024 17.86% Barclays $421 → $475 Maintains Overweight 01/29/2024 11.66% Wedbush → $450 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 01/25/2024 12.9% Piper Sandler → $455 Reiterates Overweight → Overweight 01/23/2024 48.88% Truist Securities → $600 Reiterates Buy → Buy 01/18/2024 16.87% Exane BNP Paribas → $471 Upgrades Neutral → Outperform 01/12/2024 12.9% Piper Sandler → $455 Reiterates Overweight → Overweight 01/09/2024 4.21% BMO Capital $400 → $420 Maintains Outperform 01/02/2024 12.9% Piper Sandler $425 → $455 Maintains Overweight 12/28/2023 11.66% Wedbush $425 → $450 Maintains Outperform 12/15/2023 11.66% Mizuho $420 → $450 Maintains Buy 12/13/2023 48.88% Truist Securities → $600 Initiates Coverage On → Buy 12/05/2023 6.69% Argus Research $390 → $430 Maintains Buy 12/05/2023 15.63% China Renaissance → $466 Initiates Coverage On → Buy 11/29/2023 17.86% Tigress Financial $433 → $475 Maintains Buy

By Emily Bary Capital-spending forecast suggests Microsoft ‘has line of sight to a significant increase in cloud revenue,’ Bernstein says Forget Microsoft Corp.’s expectation for Azure revenue growth this quarter that is similar to what was seen last quarter. There may have been a far more bullish hint in the company’s latest commentary about what to expect from the cloud business. Bernstein analyst Mark Moerdler told investors to look at Microsoft’s (MSFT) capital-expenditure forecast, which calls for such spending “to increase materially on a sequential basis” on the heels of investments in cloud and artificial-intelligence infrastructure. “We believe this indicates that management has line of sight to a significant increase in cloud revenue,” Moerdler wrote in his note to clients. “We also see this as an indicator that Microsoft has taken the AI mantle and Azure could become the biggest and more important hyperscaler provider.” Moerdler further believes that Microsoft’s