By Proactive
Publication Date: 2026-10-29 15:46:00
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares gave back early gains on Thursday despite a stronger-than-expected quarterly performance, as investors weighed accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) demand against the prospect of sharply higher infrastructure spending in the second half of its fiscal year.
The shares opened higher before turning lower, trading around 1.4% below their opening level.
Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating on Microsoft and raised its price target to $630 from $600, citing strong Azure growth and expanding opportunities to monetize AI across its cloud and software businesses.
Revenue rose 19% year over year in constant currency to $92.3 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, beating expectations for growth of about 17%, according to the bank.
Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing business, delivered 48% growth in constant currency, roughly three percentage points above expectations. Guidance for growth of 49%…