HSBC Cuts Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $571.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target lowered by research analysts at HSBC from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. HSBC’s target price points to a potential upside of 40.03% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. New Street Research increased their price objective on Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $556.15.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $407.78 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $395.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $448.37. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $356.28 and a twelve month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reported a strong Q3: EPS beat and accelerating cloud/AI revenue (Azure ~40% growth; multi‑billion AI run‑rate), which validates MSFT’s monetization of AI demand and supports longer‑term revenue upside. Microsoft cloud growth tops expectations
• Positive Sentiment: The Pentagon reached agreements with leading AI firms including Microsoft — a strategic win that can increase Azure/government workload and adds credibility to MSFT’s enterprise AI positioning. Pentagon‑AI deals
• Positive Sentiment: Big hyperscaler AI spending (est. ~$700B for 2026) is a structural tailwind for cloud providers and data‑center suppliers — Microsoft stands to benefit via Azure and ecosystem services. Hyperscalers AI spending
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street reactions are mixed — several firms lifted price targets on better AI/Cloud metrics while others trimmed targets over capex concerns; that divergence increases short‑term volatility but keeps a consensus for material long‑term upside. Analyst price target moves
• Neutral Sentiment: High covered‑call ETF yields on MSFT (e.g., YieldMax’s offering) reflect elevated implied volatility and income strategies from option sellers — important for derivatives flow but not a direct signal on fundamentals. YieldMax covered‑call ETF
• Negative Sentiment: Investors focused on Microsoft’s huge AI capex (near‑term guide to ~ $190B) and a 49% jump in infrastructure spending — this pressures free cash flow and margins and was the primary reason the stock sold off after the earnings beat. CapEx concerns after earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: MSFT experienced a sharp post‑earnings pullback (large market value wiped out in a day), reflecting investor skepticism that the AI investment cadence will convert to near‑term free‑cash‑flow gains. Stock value wiped after earnings
• Negative Sentiment: The reset of the Microsoft–OpenAI relationship (end of exclusivity/amended deal) has created short‑term uncertainty about future economics and competitive exposure, which is contributing to cautious analyst commentary. OpenAI exclusivity ended

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).