Under normal circumstances, losing two major names in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure at a time when you are trying to develop your AI chops would be bad news. This happened to tech giant Microsoft (MSFT) just recently. But shareholders were hardly concerned, and gave shares a 2% boost in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
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Until recently, Microsoft had a head of AI infrastructure, Nidhi Chappell, and a director of energy and data center research in Sean James. But Microsoft has these two no longer, as both recently left the company. Perhaps worse yet, James announced that he was leaving Microsoft in favor of a job with Nvidia (NVDA).
This is especially bad news for Microsoft, as the departures come at a time when Microsoft needs all hands on deck to push forward in AI development. With Microsoft currently having more chips than power to run them, losing the director of energy research is a particular blow. Meanwhile, analysts like Neil Shah of Counterpoint Research point out that something like this “…could set Microsoft back.” Shah further noted, “Solving the energy wall is not trivial, and there may have been friction or strategic differences that contributed to their decision to move on, especially if they saw an opportunity to make a broader impact and do so more lucratively at a company like Nvidia.”
The Ally Demonstrates
Meanwhile, the Asus (ASUUY) ROG Xbox Ally handheld is potentially demonstrating how Microsoft’s next console will deliver play for both Xbox games and PC games at the same time. Reports note that the last few updates have given the handheld more of a console-style feel to it, and that could be how Microsoft builds its next console.
For instance, Microsoft now supports Default Game Profiles for some titles, which automatically adjust settings in both graphics and overall system settings. The end result is a game that runs at a much more stable frames-per-second rate, which offers a better experience when going from one title to another.
Is Microsoft a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on MSFT stock based on 33 Buys and two Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 12.77% rally in its share price over the past year, the average MSFT price target of $629.98 per share implies 29.4% upside potential.
