Given its close cooperation with OpenAI and hotly-contested acquisition of Activision Blizzard – one of the biggest companies in gaming responsible for titles like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft – it is hardly surprising that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has done little other than grow in the last 18 months.
Indeed, the trend has been so decisive that it enabled MSFT to become the biggest company in the world by market capitalization at the start of 2024.
Despite the positive performance, this year has also featured significant volatility and a general slowdown, meaning that, since Microsoft stock price today stands at $423.58, the big tech firm is 14.24% in the green year-to-date (YTD).
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Additionally, by June 2024, the situation has become increasingly tense for MSFT stock as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is again investigating the technology giant – this time over an investment in the artificial intelligence (AI) firm called Inflection.
Recent revision show high confidence in MSFT
Based on the latest ratings revisions, however, Wall Street experts appear more convinced in Microsoft’s ability to continue growing than in FTC’s prospects for actually damaging the big tech firm in a meaningful way.
In fact, the stock analysis firm Oppenheimer described the partnership as promising and sustainable on June 7, 2024. The statement was accompanied by the reiteration of an ‘outperform’ – ‘buy’ – rating for the shares and a price target upgrade from $450 to $500.
On the same day, experts at the banking giant Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) reaffirmed their own ‘buy’ rating for MSFT and stated they also expect the technology blue-chip to reach $500 per share in the stock market in the coming 12 months.
Both moves indicate a low expectation that the FTC will successfully challenge Microsoft’s recent investments and that the company will indeed continue the relentless rise that saw it climb 27.72% in the last 52 weeks and 220.01% in the last 5 years.
MSFT overwhelmingly expected to continue rising
Even before the most recent developments, analysts were highly bullish on MSFT.
In fact, out of the 33 experts represented on the stock analysis platform TipRanks, 32 rate Microsoft as a ‘buy’ and 1 is ‘neutral.’
Additionally, the average price target would constitute a significant 16.45% climb for MSFT to a price of $493.56.
The highest price target – assigned by Truist Securities – would see the technology giant climb even higher and reach $600 in the coming 52 weeks of trading.
Simultaneously, the lowest price target of $450 not only constitutes an upside but is also being increasingly abandoned by experts, as evidenced by Oppenheimer’s recent upgrade.
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