Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares rose around 2% intra-day today after Oppenheimer upgraded the stock to Outperform and assigned a new price target of $600. The upgrade reflects growing confidence in Microsoft’s position as a long-term leader in AI-powered software and cloud services.

The firm sees Microsoft's rapidly expanding AI revenue stream—especially through Azure—as a key catalyst. With cloud momentum remaining strong, Azure now plays a similar foundational role for Microsoft's valuation as AWS does for Amazon. As this AI-driven business scales further, it’s expected to provide both stability and meaningful upside.

Importantly, Oppenheimer believes the market has yet to fully price in a potential acceleration in Azure growth anticipated by fiscal 2026.

Additionally, Microsoft stands out as one of the rare players in the software space capable of delivering the “Rule of 60”—a combination of high revenue growth and profitability—at a scale few can match. This dynamic, in their view, justifies a higher valuation and makes the stock a compelling bet on the future of enterprise AI.