07:05 AM EDT, 04/30/2026 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We raise our 12-month target price to $480 from $450, on a P/E of about 23x our CY 27 view of $20.70, well below historical averages to reflect software concerns and elevated spending plans. After a better than expected Mar-Q, we raise our FY 26 (Jun.) EPS estimate to $16.78 from $16.17 and FY 27 to $19.15 from $18.89. We start FY 28 at $22.43. We are encouraged by Azure's 40% growth pace in the Mar-Q, while Microsoft ( MSFT ) 365 Copilot was a pleasant surprise amid investor concerns, which now has over 20 million paid seats. Despite a massive increase in its capex forecast, planning to invest roughly $190 billion in CY 26, we think investors had already anticipated a sharp increase and think it will support growth. We see a strategic business model evolution towards a "seats plus consumption" model to better align pricing with the value and usage intensity of its AI products. Despite some weakness in the consumer and gaming segments, the outlook for the Jun-Q and our expectations for FY 27 remain solid.