Arguably, since the ascension of current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the company’s stock price has followed suit. After a decade-long average hovering in the mid $20 range, investors are seeing the needle move on their stock prices to the tune of $70 and according to Morgan Stanley analyst, Keith Weiss that could number could be going even further up.
Weiss is convinced that the growth in artificial intelligence development and research plays in well into Microsoft’s hands and has gotten Morgan Stanley to raise its price target for the company from $72 to $80. Weiss also included an estimate of Microsoft’s stock price hitting a high of $102 at some point, in a note issued to Morgan Stanley clientele.
Morgan Stanley sees Microsoft reporting earnings above expectations next year and believes that the firms overweight rating will be backed up by Microsoft’s Azure reporting, calling the service a “public cloud winner.”
In a report from CNBC Weiss and company appear elated by Microsoft’s future potential citing “machine learning and artificial intelligence trend will spur demand for the company’s Azure cloud computing service and it could add up to $110 billion in market value for Microsoft.”
Beyond Azure’s untapped potential, Weiss also sees the synergy between Microsoft’s efforts with Windows 10 paying dividends as it ties itself to Surface, Xbox, tablets and a slew of other devices which are developing a new leg of revenue growth for the company.
As it stands, Microsoft is poised for a pivot, if executed properly, that will see the company last well beyond its legacy Windows empire thanks mainly to its late investments in the cloud and hyper focus on the enterprise.
