Microsoft’s (MSFT) stock traded around $366 per share on Thursday afternoon, roughly 6% above its 52-week low of $344.79. The shares have slumped about 24% year-to-date; yet analysts remain bullish on MSFT despite being divided on the timing of a turnaround.
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What’s Behind the Selloff?
Microsoft’s shares have now retreated almost 32% from their October 2025 peak. This year’s slide marks the tech giant’s steepest six-month stretch since 2009 and leaves it as the weakest performer among the Magnificent Seven stocks.
The pressure facing the Redmond, Washington-based company comes from various directions. It includes concerns about capacity and supply constraints as well as future sales trends of its Azure cloud offering, the tech giant’s massive capital expenditure for AI infrastructure, and doubts about the pace of adoption of its flagship Microsoft 365 productivity suite and the Copilot AI assistant.
What Are Analysts Saying?
Analysts have weighed in on the pressure piling on MSFT shares. This week, UBS’ five-star analyst Karl Keirstead argued that there is a “sense of urgency inside Microsoft” to address concerns about Copilot growth and M365 industry positioning.
However, Keirstead believes it will take time for sentiment to improve. Nonetheless, the analyst called MSFT a Buy despite trimming his price target to $510, implying about 38% upside.
On the other hand, Melius’ analyst Ben Reitzes maintained his Hold rating and lowered his price target to $400, suggesting just about 4% upside. Reitzes pointed to Microsoft’s efforts to reorganize executive leadership for its Copilot service and possible legal battle with OpenAI — which accounts for about 45% of Azure’s commercial backlog — as headwinds.
By contrast, BofA analyst Tal Liani this week initiated coverage of MSFT with a Buy rating, setting a price target of $500 that implies about 37% upside. Liani contended that Microsoft can still leverage its AI edge through Azure for enterprise AI workloads and its software products tailored for everyday use.
Is Microsoft a Buy or Sell Now?
Across Wall Street, analysts remain highly bullish on Microsoft’s shares and have a Strong Buy rating on the stock. This is based on 33 Buys and three Holds issued over the past three months.
In addition, the average MSFT price target of $583.68 indicates about 60% upside.
