Microsoft price target raised to $350 from $315 at JPMorgan

JPMorgan analyst Mark Murphy raised the firm’s price target on Microsoft to $350 from $315 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The analyst cites a material increase in peer group valuations in recent months for the target raise. While Microsoft continues to encounter a “broad wave of cloud optimizations” weighing on Azure growth, it is “planting the longer-term seeds” for success across Security, Teams, Power Apps and now the forward-looking OpenAI / ChatGPT investments, the analyst tells investors in a research note. In addition, favorable currency movement may create a partial sales offset while headcount reductions show the company’s commitment to efficiency, says the firm. It continues to see Microsoft “as the best house in a gradually deteriorating neighborhood, while the fundamental trends of modernization and automation remain intact long-term.”