Bernstein raises Microsoft's price target to $660, with AI and cloud businesses set to continue underpinning earnings growth.

In its latest research report, Bernstein reaffirmed its bullish outlook on Microsoft, raising the 12-month target price to around $660 and maintaining an "Outperform" rating. The bank argues that market concerns over Microsoft’s AI infrastructure being "built too fast and spent too much" are overblown, noting that the company’s data center expansion remains aligned with its commercial cloud revenue growth, and AI investments will continue to support Azure, Copilot, and its enterprise software ecosystem. Microsoft’s share price has rebounded notably recently, rising roughly 30% since the release of strong earnings at the end of July, returning to positive territory for the year. Even after the rally, Microsoft’s valuation remains below its historical high range, with its AI and cloud businesses continuing to underpin earnings growth, per Bernstein. The report specifically points out that Microsoft’s long-term lease obligations total $329.1 billion, spread across fiscal years 2027 to 2033, with some contracts extending up to 20 years; hardware commitments for fiscal 2027 are approximately $169 billion, after which they will decline significantly. This means Microsoft is not locked into a single short-cycle AI hardware expenditure, and can reallocate data center resources to traditional cloud and software services in the future.