Microsoft shares rose for a fifth straight day to a closing high on Thursday as investors focused on the tech giant’s artificial intelligence roadmap over the stalled $69 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard. I was on track to update the value.
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Shares surged as much as 3% to hold near intraday highs of $346.78. Shares rose 0.9% on Wednesday to close at a record high of $337.34.
Year-to-date, Microsoft stock is up more than 44%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average
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,
Counting Microsoft as a component, it’s up nearly 4%.
On the other hand, the S&P500
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The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is up nearly 15% year-to-date
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The iShares Expand Technology Software Sector ETF rose 31%.
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36% growth.
In afternoon trading, Microsoft rallied the Dow Jones Industrial Average by more than 140 points, up more than 370 points (1.2%) on the day.
On Thursday, analysts rating Microsoft as a buyout raised their price targets, with Mizuho raising its price target to $360 from $340 and JP Morgan to $350 from $315.
JP Morgan analyst Mark Murphy said in a note on Thursday that Microsoft is seeing rapid growth in its AI business alone, reaching $10 billion.
“When it comes to monetizing Microsoft’s AI, the company says one of its primary avenues is through tools and services that customers use to build AI apps and services, such as running Azure OpenAI APIs and using Azure infrastructure. We share what is being said,” Murphy said. programming interface. “Furthermore, the company expects his AI to be built into ‘all Microsoft Cloud solutions.'”
The company invested billions in OpenAI, the startup that launched the generative AI ChatGPT with much fanfare late last year.
Read from March: Bill Gates says AI is just the second game-changing technological advance of his lifetime
Analysts such as BMO Capital Markets’ Keith Bachmann have revealed that Microsoft’s stock has risen 11 times in June alone, suggesting that Microsoft is in the early stages of its AI journey. ‘ and said it expects the technology to drive 4% to 6% global growth. Earnings for Microsoft Office.
read: Judge Temporarily Blocks Microsoft’s $69 Billion Acquisition of Activision
Of the 51 analysts covering Microsoft, 43 are rated Buy, 7 Hold and 1 Sell. After 11 analysts raised their price targets in June, the average price target for the company is now $345.49, up from $342.37 previously.
Late Tuesday, a federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order blocking Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision at the request of the Federal Trade Commission.
EU regulators approved the deal in mid-May, but UK regulators announced in April they would ban the deal, citing anti-competitive concerns.
