Analysts on Wall Street think Microsoft’s postearnings pullback is a buying opportunity. Shares of the technology company dipped 1% after Microsoft’s disappointing cloud revenue obscured stronger-than-expected overall results for the fiscal fourth quarter. Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud segment raked in $28.52 billion in revenue last quarter, while analysts polled by LSEG expected $28.68 billion. MSFT YTD mountain Microsoft stock. But analysts at firms including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan asserted that weakness created an entry point for investors. They also noted that the company’s cloud growth will reaccelerate, while its artificial intelligence offerings remain promising. Take a look at what some analysts around the Street said after Microsoft released its results. Goldman Sachs Analyst Kash Rangan maintained a buy rating on Microsoft and reiterated his $515 per share price target. Rangan’s forecast implies about 22% upside from Tuesday’s close. “With a strong presence across all layers of the cloud stack, including applications, platforms, and infrastructure, Microsoft is well positioned, in our view, to capitalize on a number of long-term secular trends, such as Gen-AI, public cloud consumption, SaaS [software as a service] adoption, digital transformation, AI/ML, BI/analytics, and DevOps (amongst others).” JPMorgan Chase Analyst Mark Murphy stood by his overweight rating and $470 price target on Microsoft, noting that the “long term signal for Azure & and AI is clear” despite the weak cloud revenue. Murphy’s forecast implies roughly 11% upside moving forward. “While non-AI consumption trended a tick lower on the edges in FQ4, CapEx, which continues to be informed by customer demand signals, is trending upwards and Azure growth is expected to reaccelerate in 1H CY25,” Murphy said. “In sum, despite some quarterly volatility, we believe Microsoft’s AI momentum remains intact and long-term trajectory unperturbed, which aligns with our survey and view coming into Q4 earnings.” Wells Fargo Analyst Michael Turrin upped his price target to $515. Turrin, who has an overweight rating on the stock, added that investors buying on near-term weakness should “not expect shares to stay down.” “We still see a bright future ahead for Microsoft, driven by continued growth prospects in huge categories of IT spend, ability to further monetize strong positioning in multiple end markets, and a financial profile that continues to exhibit durable margin expansion,” Turrin said. “We acknowledge shares are trading near historical highs, but think this is justified given its early AI lead and strong incumbent position in a tight market, esp. favorable in the current environment.”
