Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Forecast & Price Target

Q: What analysts cover Microsoft?

Microsoft has been rated by research analysts at Argus , Bank of America , Barclays , Benchmark , BMO Capital Markets , Cantor Fitzgerald , Citigroup , Citizens Jmp , CLSA , DA Davidson , Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft , Evercore , Guggenheim , Jefferies Financial Group , JPMorgan Chase & Co. , KeyCorp , Mizuho , Morgan Stanley , Needham & Company LLC , Oppenheimer , Phillip Securities , Piper Sandler , Raymond James Financial , Rothschild & Co Redburn , Royal Bank Of Canada , Sanford C. Bernstein , Scotiabank , Stifel Nicolaus , TD Cowen , The Goldman Sachs Group , Tigress Financial , Truist Financial , UBS Group , Weiss Ratings , Wells Fargo & Company , and Wolfe Research in the past 90 days.

$517.53 +4.73 (+0.92%)

Closing price 10/2/2026 04:00 PM Eastern

Extended Trading

$517.19 -0.34 (-0.07%)

As of 10/2/2026 08:00 PM Eastern

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Microsoft - Analysts' Recommendations and Stock Price Forecast (2026)

Consensus Rating

Moderate Buy

Based on 48 Analyst Ratings

Sell
1

Hold
4

Buy
43

Based on 48 Wall Street analysts who have issued ratings for Microsoft in the last 12 months, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy." Out of the 48 analysts, 1 has given a sell rating, 4 have given a hold rating, and 43 have given a buy rating for MSFT.

Consensus Price Target

$571.18
10.37% Upside

According to the 48 analysts' twelve-month price targets for Microsoft, the average price target is $571.18. The highest price target for MSFT is $870.00, while the lowest price target for MSFT is $430.00. The average price target represents a forecasted upside of 10.37% from the current price of $517.53.

MarketBeat calculates consensus analyst ratings for stocks using the most recent rating from each Wall Street analyst that has rated a stock within the last twelve months. Each analyst's rating is normalized to a standardized rating score of 1 (sell), 2 (hold), 3 (buy) or 4 (strong buy). Analyst consensus ratings scores are calculated using the mean average of the number of normalized sell, hold, buy and strong buy ratings from Wall Street analysts. Each stock's consensus analyst rating is derived from its calculated consensus ratings score (0 to .5 = Strong Sell, .5 to 1 = Sell, 1 to 1.5 = Reduce, 1.5 to 2.5 = Hold, 2.5 to 3.0 = Moderate Buy, 3.0 to 3.5 = Buy, >3.5 = Strong Buy). MarketBeat's consensus price targets are a mean average of the most recent available price targets set by each analyst that has set a price target for the stock in the last twelve months. MarketBeat's consensus ratings and consensus price targets may differ from those calculated by other firms due to differences in methodology and available data.

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MSFT Analyst Ratings Over Time

Type	Current Forecast 10/3/25 to 10/3/26	1 Month Ago 9/3/25 to 9/3/26	3 Months Ago 7/5/25 to 7/5/26	1 Year Ago 10/3/24 to 10/3/25
Strong Buy	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)
Buy	43 Buy rating(s)	42 Buy rating(s)	41 Buy rating(s)	31 Buy rating(s)
Hold	4 Hold rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)
Sell	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Sell rating(s)
Consensus Price Target	$571.18	$562.49	$560.86	$617.63
Forecasted Upside	10.37% Upside	10.27% Upside	43.63% Upside	19.38% Upside
Consensus Rating	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy

MSFT Analyst Recommendations By Month

The chart below shows how a company's ratings by analysts have changed over time. Each bar represents the previous year of ratings for that month. Within each bar, the sell ratings are shown in red, the hold ratings are shown in yellow, the buy ratings are shown in green, and the strong buy ratings are shown in dark green.

MSFT Price Targets by Month

The chart below shows how a company's share price and consensus price target have changed over time. The dark blue line represents the company's actual price. The lighter blue line represents the stock's consensus price target. The even lighter blue range in the background of the two lines represents the low price target and the high price target for each stock.

Microsoft Stock vs. The Competition

Type	Microsoft	Technology Companies	Broader Market
Consensus Rating Score	2.88	2.23	2.53
Consensus Rating	Moderate Buy	Hold	Moderate Buy
Predicted Upside	10.37% Upside	556.29% Upside	21.58% Upside
News Sentiment Rating	Positive News See Recent MSFT News	Positive News	Neutral News

Recent Analyst Forecasts and Stock Ratings

Rating

Upside/Downside

Action

Time Frame

Start Date

End Date

Show

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Date	Brokerage	Analyst	Action	Rating	Price Target	Report Date Upside/Downside
10/1/2026	Wells Fargo & Company 3 of 5 stars	Michael Turrin 1 of 5 stars	Boost Target	Overweight	$700.00 ➝ $725.00	+41.35%
9/30/2026	Piper Sandler 2 of 5 stars	Billy Fitzsimmons Not Rated	Boost Target	Overweight	$550.00 ➝ $610.00	+19.85%
9/28/2026	JPMorgan Chase & Co. 3 of 5 stars		Reiterated Rating	Buy
9/23/2026	Wolfe Research Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Alex Zukin Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Downgrade	Outperform ➝ Hold
9/23/2026	Needham & Company LLC Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Initiated Coverage	Buy
9/23/2026	Raymond James Financial Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Downgrade	Moderate Buy ➝ Strong Sell
9/23/2026	UBS Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Karl Kierstead Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Initiated Coverage	Buy
9/22/2026	Stifel Nicolaus Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Brad Reback Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Upgrade	Hold ➝ Buy	$530.00 ➝ $575.00	+15.46%
9/22/2026	Oppenheimer Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Brian Schwartz Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Outperform	$515.00 ➝ $570.00	+13.63%
9/21/2026	Citigroup Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Tyler Radke Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Market Outperform
Get the Latest News and Ratings for MSFT and Related Stocks Enter your email address below to receive the latest news and analysts' ratings for Microsoft and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter.
9/21/2026	Rothschild & Co Redburn Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Set Target		$440.00	-10.89%
9/21/2026	Jefferies Financial Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Buy
9/21/2026	Cantor Fitzgerald Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Thomas Blakey Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Overweight	$522.00 ➝ $608.00	+23.13%
9/15/2026	Citizens Jmp Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Patrick Walravens Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Market Outperform	$550.00	+8.82%
9/10/2026	Royal Bank Of Canada Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Rishi Jaluria Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Outperform
9/3/2026	KeyCorp Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Overweight
9/1/2026	Bank of America Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Tal Liani Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Buy	$500.00 ➝ $600.00	+18.28%
8/27/2026	Weiss Ratings Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Upgrade	Hold (C) ➝ Hold (C+)
8/10/2026	Sanford C. Bernstein Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Mark Moerdler Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Set Target		$660.00	+29.22%
8/5/2026	Tigress Financial Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Ivan Feinseth Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Buy	$680.00 ➝ $690.00	+41.02%
8/3/2026	Phillip Securities Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Downgrade	Strong-Buy ➝ Moderate Buy
7/30/2026	Scotiabank Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Patrick Colville Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Outperform	$510.00	+13.37%
7/30/2026	Morgan Stanley Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Adam Wood Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Overweight
7/30/2026	Evercore Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Kirk Materne Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Set Target		$528.00	+35.20%
7/30/2026	The Goldman Sachs Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Buy	$640.00	+63.88%
7/30/2026	CLSA Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Bhavtosh Vajpayee Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Outperform
7/30/2026	Barclays Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Raimo Lenschow Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Overweight	$545.00 ➝ $512.00	+31.10%
7/30/2026	DA Davidson Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Gil Luria Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Buy	$550.00	+23.69%
7/30/2026	TD Cowen Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Derrick Wood Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Buy	$540.00	+21.44%
7/30/2026	BMO Capital Markets Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Keith Bachman Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Outperform	$500.00 ➝ $515.00	+31.87%
7/27/2026	Guggenheim Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	John DiFucci Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Buy	$586.00	+53.52%
7/24/2026	Benchmark Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Yi Fu Lee Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Buy
7/22/2026	Truist Financial Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Terry Tillman Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Buy	$575.00	+47.84%
7/20/2026	Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Buy
7/15/2026	Mizuho Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Gregg Moskowitz Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Outperform	$515.00 ➝ $490.00	+27.30%
7/10/2026	Argus Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Joseph Bonner Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Buy	$620.00 ➝ $510.00	+32.23%
5/13/2026	Wedbush Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Daniel Ives Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Outperform	$575.00	+42.90%
5/7/2026	Dbs Bank Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target		$678.00 ➝ $573.00	+36.13%
5/5/2026	Arete Research Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Buy	$730.00 ➝ $870.00	+110.34%
5/4/2026	China Renaissance Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Buy	$630.00 ➝ $550.00	+32.72%
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5/1/2026	BNP Paribas Exane Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Stefan Slowinski Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Outperform	$556.00 ➝ $555.00	+36.10%
4/30/2026	DZ Bank Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Buy
4/30/2026	New Street Research Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Buy	$675.00 ➝ $600.00	+47.14%
4/30/2026	HSBC Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target		$593.00 ➝ $571.00	+40.03%
4/30/2026	President Capital Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Buy	$500.00 ➝ $520.00	+22.51%
4/15/2026	Robert W. Baird Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	William Power Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Outperform	$540.00 ➝ $500.00	+27.21%
3/9/2026	William Blair Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Outperform
2/9/2026	Melius Research Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Set Target		$430.00	+4.36%
2/4/2026	Daiwa Securities Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Buy	$630.00 ➝ $600.00	+45.91%
7/31/2025	Westpark Capital Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Curtis Shauger Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Hold
7/24/2025	Loop Capital Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Yun Kim Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Buy	$550.00 ➝ $600.00	+17.05%
5/1/2025	TD Securities Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Derrick Wood Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Buy	$475.00 ➝ $490.00	+13.29%

Analyst ratings data on MarketBeat is provided by Benzinga and other data providers. This page was last refreshed on Saturday at 07:31 AM ET.

Should I Buy Microsoft Stock? MSFT Pros and Cons Explained

These pros and cons were generated based on recent news and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate insights. They were last updated on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. Please send any questions or comments about these Microsoft pros and cons to contact@marketbeat.com.

Microsoft
Bull Case

Here are some ways that investors could benefit from investing in Microsoft:

Microsoft shares have surged more than 36% in the last three months, recovering from a 20% decline earlier in the year, with the stock currently trading at $512.90, a level that reflects a significant shift in investor sentiment toward the company's AI capabilities.
The company demonstrated strong fundamental performance in its most recent quarter, reporting revenue of $90.01 billion, which exceeded analyst expectations of $87.62 billion, and earnings per share of $4.74, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50.
Microsoft's Azure and other cloud services delivered 43% revenue growth, indicating that the company's massive capital expenditures on data centers are successfully translating into tangible revenue and maintaining positive free cash flow.
Copilot adoption is accelerating, with the company ending its last quarter with 30 million paid seats, an increase of 10 million in a single quarter, which represents the fastest seat growth since the product's launch and validates the commercial viability of its AI add-ons.
Wall Street analysts are increasingly bullish, with Piper Sandler raising its price target to $610 and Stifel upgrading the stock to Buy, suggesting that the current valuation of 28.56 P/E ratio is supported by improving returns on investment and disciplined spending.

Microsoft
Bear Case

Investors should be bearish about investing in Microsoft for these reasons:

The 10-year Treasury yield has advanced to 5.25%, its highest level since 2007, which creates macroeconomic pressure on big tech valuations and could limit further upside for high-growth stocks like Microsoft.
There is a risk of sentiment whiplash, as investors who sold near the lows of $355 earlier in the year may now be overpaying for the stock based on a rapidly changing narrative rather than stable, long-term fundamentals.
Microsoft's capital expenditure on AI infrastructure remains a point of contention, with some analysts questioning whether the company can generate sufficient returns on its enormous AI investments, despite the recent positive shift in perception.
Technical indicators suggest momentum is cooling, with the MACD line sitting just below its signal line, indicating that the stock is currently resting and digesting its recent gains rather than showing immediate signs of a new upward breakout.
Insider selling has been notable recently, with executives including CEO Satya Nadella and EVP Amy Hood selling significant blocks of shares in September 2026, which some investors may interpret as a lack of confidence in the current price levels.

MSFT Forecast - Frequently Asked Questions

According to the research reports of 48 Wall Street equities research analysts, the average twelve-month stock price forecast for Microsoft is $571.18, with a high forecast of $870.00 and a low forecast of $430.00.

48 Wall Street equities research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Microsoft in the last year. There is currently 1 sell rating, 4 hold ratings and 43 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street equities research analysts is that investors should "moderate buy" MSFT shares.

According to analysts, Microsoft's stock has a predicted upside of 10.37% based on their 12-month stock forecasts.

Over the previous 90 days, Microsoft's stock had 4 upgrades and 4 downgrades by analysts.

Microsoft has been rated by research analysts at Argus, Bank of America, Barclays, Benchmark, BMO Capital Markets, Cantor Fitzgerald, Citigroup, Citizens Jmp, CLSA, DA Davidson, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Evercore, Guggenheim, Jefferies Financial Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co., KeyCorp, Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, Needham & Company LLC, Oppenheimer, Phillip Securities, Piper Sandler, Raymond James Financial, Rothschild & Co Redburn, Royal Bank Of Canada, Sanford C. Bernstein, Scotiabank, Stifel Nicolaus, TD Cowen, The Goldman Sachs Group, Tigress Financial, Truist Financial, UBS Group, Weiss Ratings, Wells Fargo & Company, and Wolfe Research in the past 90 days.

Analysts like Microsoft more than other "technology" companies. The consensus rating for Microsoft is Moderate Buy while the average consensus rating for "technology" companies is Hold. Learn more on how MSFT compares to other companies.

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MarketBeat monitors more than a dozen sources for Microsoft analyst ratings, with the most recent rating issued on 10/1/2026.

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Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Forecast & Price Target