Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 2.2% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Microsoft shares rose 2.2% on Monday, trading as high as $403.18 after closing at $393.82, with volume below its recent average.
• The biggest catalyst was Microsoft’s expanded partnership with AMD to deploy Helios rack-scale systems across Azure, which could boost its AI infrastructure and future inference demand.
• Investor attention is also centered on upcoming earnings, with focus on Azure growth, AI spending, and Copilot adoption, while analysts remain broadly bullish with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and a $557.46 average target price.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 2.2% on Monday . The company traded as high as $403.18 and last traded at $402.29. Approximately 27,699,570 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 37,420,805 shares. The stock had previously closed at $393.82.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced an expanded strategic partnership with AMD to deploy AMD Helios rack-scale systems across Azure, which could strengthen Microsoft’s AI infrastructure and support future Azure inference demand. Microsoft expands AMD partnership with Helios AI infrastructure deployment on Azure
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports said Microsoft is being viewed as undervalued, with Morningstar calling it a value stock and analysts at Deutsche Bank/BofA seeing MSFT as an attractive entry point ahead of earnings, reinforcing bullish sentiment. Microsoft Is A Value Stock? Morningstar Says Yes — Here's Why Microsoft Stock Price Offers ‘Attractive Entry Point,’ Says Deutsche Bank Ahead of Q2 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Investor focus is on Microsoft’s upcoming earnings, especially Azure growth, AI backlog conversion, and Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption; that keeps the AI growth narrative front and center. Microsoft earnings to spotlight Azure growth, AI spending
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s gaming division is undergoing a major restructuring, including 3,200 layoffs and four studios cut, which may improve focus but also underscores pressure to rein in costs. Exclusive: Xbox’s CEO on 3,200 layoffs, four studios cut, and her blunt warning that ‘we spread ourselves too thin’
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also facing ongoing securities class-action headlines tied to Copilot-related disclosure concerns, adding legal overhang even though these claims are not yet proven. Levi & Korsinsky Reminds Microsoft Corporation Investors of the Pending Class Action Lawsuit With a Lead Plaintiff Deadline of August 11, 2026 - MSFT
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors remain worried that Microsoft’s aggressive AI infrastructure spending is pressuring returns and margins, which could weigh on the stock if earnings commentary does not reassure the market. Microsoft (MSFT) Criticizes Anthropic Fable AI While Azure Ties Deepen

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Citizens Jmp started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $550.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $525.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Argus decreased their target price on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $557.46.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $400.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $410.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. The business's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911,142 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock worth $58,624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 980,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $50,664,631,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

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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