As Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) stock attempted a market reversal from its 12-month correction, the company has received its first Sell rating in the past 3 months.
On July 15, Tyler Radke, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), assigned a ‘Sell’ rating for MSFT stock. Radke further lowered the firm’s 12-month price target for Microsoft stock to $570 from $620, thus signaling a potential 48.08% upside.
Earlier on Wednesday, Greg Moskowitz, an analyst at Mizuho Securities, reiterated a Buy rating for MSFT shares. Moskowitz, however, lowered the firm’s 12-month price target for MSFT stock to $490 from $515, thus signaling a possible 27.3% upside.
Michael Turrin, an analyst at Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), assigned a Buy rating for MSFT shares. Additionally, Turrin lowered the bank’s 12-month target to $625 from $625.
Citi’s Radke argued that the bullish outlook is based on the company’s repositioning to align with the AI boom. Furthermore, the bank anticipates Microsoft to report strong fourth-quarter results.
Meanwhile, Wells Fargo’s Turrin signaled improving Azure growth, operating expense discipline, and the AI boom as key drivers to propel MSFT stock higher over the next 12 months.
MSFT stock price forecast and performance
As more Wall Street analysts assigned a bullish outlook for Microsoft over the next 12 months, the average price target increased. As of press time, 36 analysts surveyed by TipRanks have an average price target of $559.14, representing a 44.67% upside.
As a core AI stock, Microsoft stock could rally over the coming months to retest its all-time high (ATH), which is in line with analysts’ expectations. At press time, MSFT shares traded at about $388.91 after recently rebounding from a crucial multi-year support level.
However, if the company’s stock drops below its established support level around $358, the analysts’ 12-month prediction could be invalidated.
