Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Up 3.1% On Rating Upgrade By Cowen

Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) rating on the stock was recently upgraded from Market Perform to Outperform by investment firm, Cowen. In addition, analysts at Cowen gave a $58.00 target price.

Following the upgrade, the share price gained more than 3%.

Cowen’s analyst Gregg Moskowitz remains quite impressed with the company’s Office business as well as growth in its cloud-based service Azure.

Moskowitz was optimistic about increasing Office revenue and subscriptions to Office 365. The analyst remains positive about the transition of Office to a subscription format in both consumer and commercial Office businesses.

Talking about the impressive numbers in the last reported fiscal third quarter, Office 365 consumer subscribers were 22.2 million and Commercial Office 365 commercial seats were up 57% from the year-ago quarter.

Cloud computing is a flourishing domain in the technology space. It is a procedure by which data or software is stored outside a computer, but can be easily accessed anywhere and at any time via the Internet. Cloud computing is gaining traction as it can cut IT costs significantly for companies by removing expensive servers and trimming maintenance staff.

Moskowitz believes that Microsoft is a long-term winner in cloud computing. He believes that though Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services is a leader in the cloud space, Microsoft’s Windows Azure is number two and largely being used in business applications.

In the fiscal third quarter, Azure revenue grew 120% year over year on a constant currency basis, with Azure premium services up triple digits for the seventh straight quarter. Azure compute usage and Azure SQL database more than doubled.

Moskowitz said that both Office suite and Cloud business remain the strengths of Microsoft and are well positioned for growth, The analyst projects Office revenue growth to accelerate through fiscal 2018.

With its sustained focus on innovation, strength within the cloud business and increasing revenue within Microsoft's Office business, Moskowitz remains positive about the company’s success in the future.

Currently, Microsoft carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Stocks to Consider

Some stocks that are well placed in the same space are CommVault Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVLT) , Konami Holdings Corporation (OTC:KNMCY) and Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANH) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

MICROSOFT CORP (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report

COMMVAULT SYSTM (CVLT): Free Stock Analysis Report

MANHATTAN ASOC (MANH): Free Stock Analysis Report

KONAMI CORP-ADR (KNMCY): Free Stock Analysis Report

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