Microsoft’s AI Bet Is Starting to Strengthen Its Core Business

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, Financials), a software and cloud behemoth, got yet another positive Wall Street call as analysts grew increasingly convinced that corporate AI expenditure would translate into better revenue.Citi upped price target to $636 from $600 and maintains Buy rating.The company cited recent polls of chief investment officers and checks with software distributors as evidence that Microsoft’s core productivity and public-cloud businesses may expand if corporations spend more on artificial intelligence.That’s the big question for Microsoft’s shareholders.The corporation has poured huge sums of dollars into data centers, semiconductors and AI technology. Businesses need to transition from testing AI technologies to buying them at scale to reap the rewards of that expenditure.Citi believes Microsoft is still one of the best positioned companies to leverage that change.Azure offers the firm access to AI…