Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Cut to $600.00 by Analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets

Key Points

• Daiwa Capital Markets cut its Microsoft price target to $600 (from $630) while keeping a buy rating, a level the firm says implies about a 45.7% upside from the prior close.
• Across Wall Street the stock carries an average target of roughly $596.98 with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" (2 Strong Buy, 40 Buy, 3 Hold).
• Microsoft beat Q2 revenue and EPS estimates and is pushing AI initiatives (including the Maia chip), but concerns over slowing Azure growth and roughly $37.5B in AI capex that could pressure near‑term margins have weighed on sentiment.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by Daiwa Capital Markets from $630.00 to $600.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the software giant's stock. Daiwa Capital Markets' target price suggests a potential upside of 45.69% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Arete Research boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $660.00 to $635.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $641.00 price target (down previously from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $600.00 price target (down from $610.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $596.98.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $411.83 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $473.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $498.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.08. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant's stock worth $148,823,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,166,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $88,714,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532,054 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat expectations on both revenue and EPS, and management highlighted continued AI momentum — this underpins the long‑term bull case that MSFT can monetize AI across cloud and productivity products. 5 Takeaways From Microsoft's Latest Earnings Report
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is pushing hardware + model integration (Maia chip and cloud AI stack), which supports longer‑term revenue opportunities from AI compute and differentiated services. Investors view these moves as a path to future monetizeable growth. Microsoft highlights AI capabilities with Maia chip launch
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street support persists: several firms reiterated/maintained buy or outperform ratings and some increased price targets after the report, giving a potential cushion for a recovery if growth steadies. RBC Capital Reiterates Outperform Rating on Microsoft
• Neutral Sentiment: Organizational changes: Judson Althoff (commercial CEO) is reorganizing sales leadership to accelerate AI adoption among customers — this is a strategic execution step but effects on revenue will be gradual. Microsoft's new commercial CEO is making changes to his top ranks
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction was driven by signs of slowing Azure growth and guidance that implies moderation ahead; combined with record ~$37.5B AI capex, investors fear near‑term margins and free cash flow pressure. That narrative triggered the recent sell‑off. Here's Why Microsoft Fell After Earnings, Despite Beating Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure and product execution concerns: reporters highlight struggles converting AI R&D into commercial wins (start‑ups and rivals like Anthropic and Palantir are getting traction), and some MSFT AI products show adoption/user problems — a headwind to near‑term sentiment. Microsoft Spent Billions on AI -- But One Start-Up Just Proved Speed Beats Scale
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/regulatory risks: some European governments are moving to domestic communications platforms (e.g., France replacing Teams/Zoom), signaling potential revenue friction in key markets and rising policy risk. France ditches Zoom and Teams for homegrown system amid European digital sovereignty push

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

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