Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Gains as Cowen Upgrades to 'Outperform'
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) - Get Report are climbing by 1.23% to $50.64 in early-morning trading on Tuesday, after Cowen upgraded shares to "outperform" from "market perform."
The firm has a $58 price target on the stock.
The rating upgrade reflects improvements in its Microsoft Office business and growth within its cloud-based service Azure, MarketWatch reports.
Accelerating revenue within Microsoft's Office business paired with strength within the cloud business should lead to double-digit returns within the next 12 months, Cowen noted.
Investors overreacted to the technology giant's most recent quarterly earnings, and "largely overlooked" its transition of Office to a subscription service, the firm added.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates the stock as a "buy" with a ratings score of B+.
Microsoft's strengths such as its largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, reasonable valuation levels, good cash flow from operations, solid stock price performance and expanding profit margins outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.
You can view the full analysis from the report here: MSFT
TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this article's author.
