TLDR Microsoft fell 0.4% to $518.94 in premarket trading Thursday after a 2.3% drop Wednesday. The stock is more than 6% below its $555.80 record close from Nov. 4. Ignite runs Nov. 17 to Nov
Microsoft (MSFT) stock fell 0.4% to $518.94 in premarket trading on Thursday. That came after a 2.3% slide on Wednesday.
The stock now sits more than 6% below its record close of $555.80 from Nov. 4. Its 52-week high is $559.15.
A possible reset is on the calendar. Microsoft holds its Ignite conference from Nov. 17 to Nov. 20.
Azure and Copilot are expected to take center stage. Two Wall Street firms think the event could bring investor enthusiasm back.
The timing matters because of this week’s pressure. Anthropic unveiled Claude Sheets, a spreadsheet tool that could compete with Excel.
Evercore says Claude Sheets is not yet a substitute for Excel. Still, it adds competitive pressure on Microsoft’s productivity products.
Citi analyst Tyler Radke kept his Buy rating and $680 price target. He expects the opening keynote to focus on the next phase of enterprise AI adoption.
Radke wants to see Copilot grow from an assistant into an enterprise agent platform. He also expects updates on orchestration, governance, observability and enterprise controls.
Morgan Stanley’s Adam Wood has an Overweight rating and a $650 target. He said Microsoft is back in favor after another better-than-expected quarter.
Wood wants proof that Microsoft can improve the economics of serving AI demand. He does not expect any change to near-term guidance.
Without more revenue and gross profit from each dollar of infrastructure spending, Microsoft could face AI spending concerns. That risk looks unlikely, since Azure growth has kept Wall Street comfortable.
Microsoft last reported earnings on Oct. 28. Earnings per share came in at $4.89, ahead of the $4.72 forecast.
Revenue hit $92.28 billion, up 18.8% from a year ago. Analysts had expected $90.62 billion.
The company carries a market cap of $3.87 trillion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.20. Its 50-day moving average is $518.20, and its 200-day average is $441.37.
The Wall Street consensus is “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $609.54. One analyst rates it Strong Buy, 46 say Buy and four say Hold.
On the news front, IBM and Microsoft announced an AI agent platform tied to more than 6,000 agents. Northern Trust also said an agent built with Microsoft cut its data-preparation time by 83%.
Reports also say Microsoft is pushing back on a possible U.S. ban on Chinese data-center components. The ban has not been confirmed.
Microsoft also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 from $0.91. Investors of record on Nov. 19 will be paid on Dec. 10, and the ex-dividend date is Nov. 19, right in the middle of Ignite.
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