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 , KeyCorp , Mizuho , Morgan Stanley , Oppenheimer , Phillip Securities , Piper Sandler , 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.

$493.78 -3.97 (-0.80%)

Closing price 04:00 PM Eastern

Extended Trading

$494.64 +0.86 (+0.17%)

As of 07:11 PM Eastern

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

Consensus Rating

Moderate Buy

Based on 47 Analyst Ratings

Sell
0

Hold
5

Buy
42

Based on 47 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 47 analysts, 5 have given a hold rating, and 42 have given a buy rating for MSFT.

Consensus Price Target

$564.27
14.27% Upside

According to the 47 analysts' twelve-month price targets for Microsoft, the average price target is $564.27. The highest price target for MSFT is $870.00, while the lowest price target for MSFT is $400.00. The average price target represents a forecasted upside of 14.27% from the current price of $493.78.

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 9/18/25 to 9/18/26	1 Month Ago 8/19/25 to 8/19/26	3 Months Ago 6/20/25 to 6/20/26	1 Year Ago 9/18/24 to 9/18/25
Strong Buy	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)
Buy	42 Buy rating(s)	42 Buy rating(s)	41 Buy rating(s)	29 Buy rating(s)
Hold	5 Hold rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)
Sell	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Sell rating(s)
Consensus Price Target	$564.27	$560.27	$561.20	$612.54
Forecasted Upside	14.27% Upside	15.68% Upside	47.92% Upside	20.47% 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	2.89	2.23	2.53
Consensus Rating	Moderate Buy	Hold	Moderate Buy
Predicted Upside	13.36% Upside	641.24% Upside	17.73% Upside
News Sentiment Rating	Positive News See Recent MSFT News	Positive News	Positive 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
9/15/2026	Citizens Jmp 4 of 5 stars	Patrick Walravens 1 of 5 stars	Reiterated Rating	Market Outperform	$550.00	+8.82%
9/10/2026	Royal Bank Of Canada 3 of 5 stars	Rishi Jaluria 2 of 5 stars	Reiterated Rating	Outperform
9/4/2026	Stifel Nicolaus 4 of 5 stars	Brad Reback 2 of 5 stars	Boost Target	Hold	$450.00 ➝ $530.00	+3.90%
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%
8/31/2026	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
8/27/2026	Weiss Ratings Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Upgrade	Hold (C) ➝ Hold (C+)
8/12/2026	Wells Fargo & Company Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Michael Turrin Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Overweight	$650.00 ➝ $700.00	+38.94%
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%
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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	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	Set Target		$525.00	+15.30%
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	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	Reiterated Rating	Outperform	$550.00	+40.83%
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%
7/28/2026	Piper Sandler Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Billy Fitzsimmons Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Overweight	$540.00 ➝ $550.00	+40.14%
7/27/2026	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	$502.00 ➝ $522.00	+33.66%
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	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	Reiterated Rating	Outperform	$515.00	+29.48%
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	Raymond James Financial Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Downgrade	Market Perform
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%
5/4/2026	Jefferies Financial Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Buy
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%
$747 million in one quarter - with a 60% cash-flow target (Ad) The company posted $747 million in net income last quarter and plans to return at least 60% of 2026 free cash flow to shareholders. Institutions control roughly 88% of shares, with BlackRock and Vanguard among the largest holders. A multi-year Palantir partnership is driving toward $500 million in run-rate savings by year-end 2026. Last quarter alone, the company returned $189 million to shareholders and repurchased 2.8 million shares. Watch the briefing to see the full ownership and cash-flow breakdown.
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%
4/23/2026	Rothschild & Co Redburn Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Neutral	$450.00 ➝ $400.00	-7.60%
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%
1/29/2026	JPMorgan Chase & Co. Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Mark Murphy Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Overweight	$575.00 ➝ $550.00	+14.20%
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	Needham & Company LLC Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Buy
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 Friday at 07:12 PM 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 Thursday, September 17, 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 is expanding its Azure cloud platform into payment security by turning cloud-managed security for payment infrastructure into a service, which opens a sizable enterprise market and creates another source of Azure consumption.
The company is extending its collaboration with Nokia around Microsoft Fabric, unified data, and agentic network automation to target fault detection, predictive maintenance, and autonomous telecom operations, supporting demand for its cloud and AI tools.
Microsoft Copilot is gaining specialized functionality with the integration of Causaly’s scientific research platform, strengthening its appeal to life-sciences research organizations by allowing them to access agentic scientific research directly within Microsoft 365 workflows.
Microsoft’s venture arm participated in a more than $20 million funding round for ManticAI, an AI startup focused on predicting global events, offering potential strategic exposure to another AI application area.
Microsoft shares are currently trading at $497.75, reflecting a 1.5% rise during recent trading sessions as the stock continues to show strength despite lower-than-average daily volume.

Microsoft
Bear Case

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

Microsoft’s substantial data-center and AI investment must continue translating into Azure revenue and profits, and commentary questions whether the stock’s valuation already reflects much of the AI opportunity.
OpenAI and Microsoft executives privately described their AI products as substitutes for journalism, according to court filings that the New York Times and other news outlets say gut the tech companies' fair-use defense in a closely watched copyright case.
A Microsoft executive called AI scraping “the largest theft of labor in human history,” according to new unredacted filings in the copyright lawsuit brought by The New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft.
EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares worth roughly $20.8 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, adding a modest overhang to the stock despite the scheduled nature of the transaction.
CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated September 1st, representing a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock.

MSFT Forecast - Frequently Asked Questions

According to the research reports of 47 Wall Street equities research analysts, the average twelve-month stock price forecast for Microsoft is $564.27, with a high forecast of $870.00 and a low forecast of $400.00.

47 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Microsoft in the last twelve months. There are currently 5 hold ratings and 42 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "moderate buy" MSFT shares.

According to analysts, Microsoft's stock has a predicted upside of 14.27% based on their 12-month stock forecasts.

Over the previous 90 days, Microsoft's stock had 3 upgrades and 2 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, KeyCorp, Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, Oppenheimer, Phillip Securities, Piper Sandler, 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 9/15/2026.

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Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Forecast & Price Target