--- title: "Why Is Microsoft Stock Gaining Thursday?" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/303540290.md" description: "Microsoft stock rose over 3% in premarket trading after reporting Q1 revenue of $92.28 billion and EPS of $4.89, both beating estimates. Driven by surging cloud and AI demand, Azure revenue jumped 48%. The company issued a strong Q2 forecast of $96-$97.1 billion. Analysts remain bullish on Azure growth and free cash flow, though some note long-term software risks. Microsoft maintains a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $614.08." datetime: "2026-10-29T09:50:36.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/303540290.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/303540290.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/303540290.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # Why Is Microsoft Stock Gaining Thursday? **Microsoft Corp.** (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock rose more than 3% in premarket trading Thursday after the technology giant reported better-than-expected quarterly results and issued an upbeat revenue forecast, supported by strong cloud and artificial intelligence demand. The gains came despite broader market weakness. Nasdaq futures fell 1.15%, while S&P 500 futures declined 0.32%. Analysts remained largely bullish on Microsoft, citing accelerating Azure growth, resilient enterprise software demand and the company’s ability to fund massive AI investments. ## Microsoft Beats Earnings Estimates, Issues Strong Forecast Microsoft reported first-quarter revenue of $92.28 billion, up 19% year over year and above analysts’ estimate of $90.70 billion. Earnings reached $4.89 per share, beating expectations of $4.72. The company forecast second-quarter revenue of $96 billion to $97.1 billion, exceeding the $95.66 billion consensus estimate. Microsoft also expects quarterly capital expenditures to surpass $50 billion. Azure revenue jumped 48% to $33.2 billion, highlighting continued demand for cloud and AI infrastructure. **See More: Top Value Stocks** ## Analysts See More Upside For Microsoft Ahead of the results, **D.A. Davidson** Managing Director Gil Luria told CNBC that he slightly favored Microsoft over **Alphabet Inc.** (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and **Amazon.com Inc.** (NASDAQ:AMZN). Luria expected Azure growth to accelerate and highlighted Microsoft’s strong free cash flow, which could help finance AI investments without additional borrowing or equity issuance. **Jefferies** analyst Brent Thill said following the results that accelerating Azure and Microsoft 365 growth, strong remaining performance obligations and lower-than-expected capital spending supported his bullish outlook. Thill said Microsoft’s next challenge is controlling AI infrastructure spending while maintaining growth. He also pointed to resilient operating margins and early-stage enterprise AI adoption. ## Munster Flags Long-Term Software Risks **Deepwater Asset Management’s** Gene Munster told CNBC that Microsoft’s software growth accelerated to 17% in September from 14% in June. However, Munster questioned whether that pace could continue as AI reshapes demand for knowledge-work software. He also noted that capacity constraints limited Azure’s growth potential, reinforcing the need for continued infrastructure investment. ## Analyst Ratings And Price Forecasts Microsoft carries a consensus Buy rating, with an average price forecast of $614.08. **Piper Sandler** maintained an Overweight rating and raised its price forecast to $650 on Oct. 29. **Truist Securities** maintained a Buy rating and raised its price forecast to $600 on Oct. 26, while **Oppenheimer** maintained an Outperform rating and increased its price forecast to $625 on Oct. 26. **MSFT Price Action:** Microsoft shares were up 3.47% at $549.44 during premarket trading on Thursday. The stock is trading near its 52-week high of $553.72, according to Benzinga Pro data. *Photo via Shutterstock* **Read Also: Alphabet’s $514 Billion Google Cloud Backlog, AI Spending Put 2027 Growth in Focus, Says Analyst** ### Related Stocks - [MSFT.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFT.US.md) - [MSFC.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFC.US.md) - [MSFD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFD.US.md) - [MSFL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFL.US.md) - [MSFO.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFO.US.md) - [MSFU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFU.US.md) - [MSFW.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFW.US.md) - [MSFX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFX.US.md) - [MSFY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFY.US.md) - [AMZN.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AMZN.US.md) - [GOOG.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GOOG.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Microsoft's massive employee buyout spooked everyone. 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