Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares are trading slightly lower Tuesday, pulling back modestly even as Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and raised the price target on the stock. Here’s what you should know.
- Microsoft stock is trending. What’s ahead for MSFT stock?
Oppenheimer Raises Microsoft Price Target to $570
Following a visit to Microsoft’s headquarters, Oppenheimer analyst Brian Schwartz bumped the price target up to $570 from a prior $515, keeping the Outperform rating in place. The analyst came away from the sit-down convinced that Microsoft can keep growing faster while still spending capital wisely.
Schwartz told clients he expects both Azure and the commercial side of Microsoft 365 to keep gaining speed into fiscal 2027, driven by strong Copilot subscription revenue, additional server capacity coming online and businesses increasingly settling on Microsoft as their go-to AI provider.
Executives steered clear of specifics on how the current quarter is trending, but Schwartz described their overall demeanor as upbeat, pointing to fresh agentic features, internal fixes addressing AI capacity constraints and solid customer demand. The Oppenheimer analyst said Microsoft’s outlook for positive free cash flow next fiscal year bodes well for the company hitting or topping its targets for the upcoming quarterly report.
Beginning in fiscal 2027, Azure results will fall under a newly created Agents and Infrastructure segment. Customer demand, now spreading well past the handful of frontier AI labs that once dominated it, is expected to keep outstripping available capacity through year-end.
Running his own numbers, Schwartz calculated that Azure’s constant-currency growth could land near 46% for the upcoming quarter. That figure would top guidance and likely lift Microsoft’s stock multiple, with growth potentially climbing toward 50% the quarter after.
The analyst did note that AI-related disruption and pulled-forward IT spending could weigh on Azure and Microsoft 365 growth heading into 2027 or squeeze cloud margins.
MSFT Shares Slip Tuesday
MSFT Price Action: Microsoft shares were down 0.76%, trading at $497.71 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro.
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