Microsoft price target raised to $494 from $430 at Barclays

Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow raised the firm’s price target on Microsoft (MSFT) to $494 from $430 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares following the earnings report. It does not often happen that a mega-cap company can significantly surprise investors with an earnings report, but that is what happened with Microsoft, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says that against low expectations and mixed channel checks, Microsoft delivered a much better quarter, highlighted by accelerating Azure growth in fiscal Q3 and strong Q4 guidance. Barclays believes the Azure reacceleration should drive shares higher from here.