AI And CybersecurityThe higher target price for Microsoft is due to its rising dominance in the cybersecurity space, stronger presence in cloud services, and investments in AI at scale.
Cloud ServicesAzure remains a key growth engine, with total revenue growing 16% YoY, driven by strong demand for its cloud and AI-enabled services.
Operating EfficiencyQuarterly net income was up 11% YoY to US$24.7bn, 6% better than consensus, aided by better than feared margin impact from AI related investments and operating efficiency gains of productivity and business process business.