Analyst Brad Reback expects nearly 16% upside from Tuesday's close of $498.
Stifel upgraded Microsoft to buy from hold, marking a vote of confidence from one of the few remaining Wall Street firms cautious on the stock. Shares rose nearly 1% in pre-market trading on Wednesday following the change.
Analyst Brad Reback raised his price target on Microsoft from $530 to $575, matching the consensus average among analysts covering the company. The target implies upside of almost 16% from Tuesday's closing price of $498.
We are increasingly comfortable with the company's ability to sustain mid/upper teens revenue growth as open-weight model advancement has boosted management's LLM agnostic strategy.
Reback added that operational efficiencies support stable operating margins, while strong cash flows should limit the need for outside financing. Following the upgrade, 68 analysts tracked by Bloomberg recommend buying Microsoft, three recommend holding, and none recommend selling.
Microsoft shares have gained about 3% in 2026 as of Tuesday's close, lagging the nearly 22% gain in the Nasdaq 100 Index and the 11% average rise across the Magnificent Seven stocks. Outside of Tesla, which has dropped 16%, Microsoft has been the group's weakest performer this year, even after blowout late-July results generated its fastest cloud growth in four years and its biggest one-day jump since October 2008.
Share prices can rise and fall. Past performance does not guarantee future results. This article is news, not investment advice.
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