Microsoft Stock Is Trading Higher Thursday: What's Going On?
Microsoft Corporation's stock rose 4.5% to $536.64 after reporting better-than-expected Q4 results, with earnings per share at $3.65 and sales of $76.44 billion. Cloud revenue increased 27% to $46.7 billion, with Azure surpassing $75 billion in annual revenue. Analysts adjusted price targets, with Piper Sandler raising it to $650 and Wedbush to $625. The company forecasts Q1 sales between $74.70 billion and $75.80 billion, exceeding consensus estimates.
Microsoft Corporation MSFT shares are trading higher Thursday after the company reported better-than-expected fourth quarter financial results on Wednesday after the market closed.
What To Know: The company reported earnings per share of $3.65, beating the consensus estimate of $3.37. In addition, Microsoft reported sales of $76.44 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion.
Microsoft broke down revenue further, reporting cloud revenue rose 27% to $46.7 billion, while Azure surpassed $75 billion in annual revenue on 34% growth. Intelligent Cloud revenue climbed 26% to $29.9 billion, led by a 39% increase in Azure and other cloud services.
The company reported net income of $27.2 billion, up 24% year-over-year, and operating income of $34.3 billion, up 23%.
Q1 Outlook: The company sees sales from $74.70 billion to $75.80 billion, versus the consensus estimate of $74.06 billion.
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Analyst Changes: Following the earnings report, multiple analysts issued price target adjustments.
- Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin maintained an Overweight rating on Microsoft and raised the price target from $600 to $650.
- Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives maintained an Outperform rating on Microsoft and raised the price target from $600 to $625.
- Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Thomas Blakey maintained an Overweight rating on Microsoft and raised the price target from $581 to $639.
- Oppenheimer analyst Brian Schwartz maintained an Outperform rating on Microsoft and raised the price target from $600 to $630.
- Keybanc analyst Jackson Ader upgraded Microsoft from a Sector Weight rating to an Overweight rating and announced a $630 price target.
MSFT Price Action: At the time of writing, Microsoft stock is trading 4.5% higher at $536.64, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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