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☆ Earnings this week will be dominated by Big Tech. What analysts expect
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Big technology earnings this week could offer a much-needed catalyst for a market under pressure. Last week, the S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite notched their longest daily losing streaks since October 2022, with the broad index posting its worst week since March 2022. Big Tech's performance this week could set the tone for the rest of earnings season and revive the market momentum. Tesla Tesla launches the reporting period for the "Magnificent Seven" stocks, with results due out after the bell Tuesday. Meta Platforms Meta Platforms ' results are due out after the bell Wednesday.

Persons: Tesla, Elon Musk, John Murphy, Longtime Deutsche Bank Tesla, Emmanuel Rosner, Brent Thill, Bernstein, Mark Shmulik, Doug Anmuth, Justin Post, Goldman Sachs, Eric Sheridan, Jefferies, Bernstein's, Wells Fargo's Michael Turrin, Piper Sandler's Brent Bracelin, Kash Rangan, Brad Zelnick, OpenAI, Satya Nadella Organizations: Federal Reserve, Nasdaq, Tesla Tesla, Bank of America, Barclays, Longtime Deutsche Bank, Microsoft, Deutsche, NVIDIA Locations: China

☆ Here's the magnitude of AI's effect on Microsoft's bottom line and what it means for the stock
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft seemed to pass Wall Street's latest test when it demonstrated its ability to monetize artificial intelligence. The action came a day after Microsoft issued light guidance but delivered a top-and-bottom line beat and strong AI-focused commentary. Wall Street analysts across the board regarded Microsoft's results as an affirmation of its AI leadership position. Piper Sandler's Brent Bracelin said in a Tuesday note that the results "reinforced Microsoft's first-mover advantage in AI applications." Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs analyst Kash Rangan called the company one of the "most compelling" opportunities across sectors, viewing AI as a major boon for an "already strong growth profile."

Persons: Brent Thill, Satya Nadella, Amy Hood, Morgan Stanley's Keith Weiss, Piper Sandler's Brent Bracelin, Goldman Sachs, Kash Rangan, Mark Murphy, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Microsoft, Barclays, Raimo, Wall Street

☆ Microsoft starts selling its Copilot AI tool for email and documents
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

On Wednesday, the company started selling the Microsoft 365 Copilot artificial intelligence add-on for its Office app subscriptions targeting businesses. Wong said Gartner encourages organizations to experiment with generative AI, which can create synthetic images and text with just a few words of human input. "I think getting to 20% will be reasonable within two to three years for technologies like Copilot, because there's going to be early adopters, and there's going to be fast followers," he said. Microsoft acknowledges on its website that "the responses that generative AI produces aren't guaranteed to be 100% factual." Microsoft says prompts and responses in Copilot aren't used to train language models and adhere to the company's privacy standards.

Persons: Piper Sandler, Brent Bracelin, Hannah Rudoff, Piper Sandler's, Bracelin, Satya Nadella, Nadella, we've, Jason Wong, Wong, Gartner, Piper Sandler's Bracelin, ChatGPT, aren't, Katie Stockton Organizations: Microsoft, Google, CNBC, Copilot, Bayer, KPMG, Mayo Clinic, Suncorp, Visa, Gartner, Companies

☆ Microsoft could be having its 'iPhone moment' this week that sends the stock soaring over time, says Piper Sandler
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Microsoft may be on the brink of a watershed moment equivalent to Apple 's 2007 iPhone launch, according to Piper Sandler. MSFT YTD mountain Microsoft shares since the start of 2023 The comments from Bracelin come as the software giant readies to launch its Copilot artificial intelligence subscription service offering Wednesday. The tool, first announced in July, adds AI capabilities to Office product for an additional $30 a month. While AI investments only garnered half a billion in revenue last quarter, Microsoft's broad AI ambitions could add $10 billion in revenue to by 2025 and $100 billion longer term, according to Bracelin's projections. This "first-mover AI advantage," coupled with expectations for a reacceleration in double-digit top-line growth, support the current premium for shares.

Persons: Piper Sandler, Brent Bracelin, Bracelin, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Microsoft, Apple, MSFT Locations: That's

☆ Despite near-term growth concerns, Wall Street analysts view this cloud stock as a long-term A.I. winner
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Snowflake should emerge as a long-term artificial intelligence winner despite a host of near-term snowstorms, Wall Street analysts think. The cloud stock dropped more than 16% last Thursday after the company shared product revenue guidance that fell short of consensus expectations and results that indicated slowing growth. Even with these headwinds, many analysts remain positive on Snowflake's long-term trajectory, viewing an acquisition and the transition to the cloud as two catalysts for the stock. Deutsche Bank's Brad Zelnick said in a recent note that AI, among other developments, should drive customer stickiness and improved use cases. A murky future Not everyone seems optimistic about Snowflake's AI potential, however.

Persons: Snowflake, Brent Thill, Piper Sandler's Brent Bracelin, Raymond James, Simon Leopold, Frank Slootman, Goldman Sachs, Kash Rangan, Rangan, Brad Zelnick, Redburn, Alex Haissl, Haissl, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Wall Street, Wolfe Research, Snowflake's Summit, Deutsche, Palo Alto Networks Locations: Snowflake, Las Vegas

Analyst Brent Bracelin raised his price target on shares to $400 from $348, saying he was increasing estimates "for an AI All-Star." Recall, Microsoft Cloud is poised to exceed $110B in F2023 which is larger than the entire business in F2013 at $78B. We think the Microsoft AI opportunity could be bigger than cloud," Bracelin wrote in a Tuesday note. Microsoft shares have been on fire this year, surging more than 38%, as excitement grows around the prospects of artificial intelligence. The analyst added, however, that "AI tailwinds can justify further multiple expansion as AI news flows further converts into higher confidence in out-year growth."

Persons: Piper Sandler, Brent Bracelin, MSFT, Bracelin, Michael Bloom Organizations: Microsoft Locations: Seattle

☆ The tech trade is back, driven by A.I. craze and prospect of a less aggressive Fed
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Imageswatch nowTo start the year, the main theme in tech was layoffs and cost cuts. But investors have shifted their focus to AI now that companies are showcasing real-world applications of the long-hyped technology. Google, meanwhile, is touting its rival AI model at every opportunity, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg would much rather tell shareholders about his company's AI advancements than the company's money-bleeding metaverse efforts. The chipmaker, known best for its graphics processing units (GPUs) that power advanced video games, is riding the AI wave. The next three top gainers in the index are also tech companies: Meta, Advanced Micro Devices and Salesforce .

☆ Piper Sandler calls generative A.I. the next $100 billion tech revolution, names stocks to play it
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"We see Generative AI as the next major revolution in technology that could have far reaching implications across both consumer and enterprise sectors," wrote analyst Brent Bracelin in a Friday note to clients, calling generative AI the "next $100B+ technology revolution." Amazon Web Services is also launching Bedrock , a generative AI service that's geared toward developers. Given this setup for the industry, Piper Sandler named some of its top picks to play the growing field. Microsoft seemed to win the first marketing battle, but Piper Sandler sees Alphabet as well-positioned for AI given its yearslong use of AI and machine learning in its search products. Despite the run up in shares, Piper Sandler expects nearly 7% downside for the stock from Thursday's close.

☆ Heavyweight tech battle: How Microsoft and Alphabet stack up against each other in the A.I. war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

"It's a new day in search," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Tuesday during an AI event held at the company's headquarters, saying that the "race starts today." So far, Microsoft is making significant headway within AI and rising in popularity in the tech world. Alphabet, he added, "got beaten to market by Microsoft" despite its investments in the space. Alphabet Microsoft may be taking the lead on AI in the near term, but investors shouldn't sleep on Alphabet just yet. "We believe GOOGL has the AI tech and scale to maintain/grow its leading user base," said Morgan Stanley's Brian Nowak in a Thursday note.

☆ Microsoft will need 'a crowbar to pry away' Google's advertising dominance, even with its A.I. investments
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

But analysts aren't convinced that significant market share gains will come anytime soon. At the same time, he suspects the announcement will further push Google to roll out more of its own AI search engine features. To be sure, even though Microsoft accounts for just a fraction of the search advertising market, analysts see signs that the company is making significant progress. According to Piper Sandler's Brent Bracelin, Microsoft AI should reach $40 billion in revenue in half the time it took the company's cloud segment to reach that milestone. He also estimates that Microsoft could expand its market share within the digital ad market by as much as 7% sometime in 2026.

☆ Piper Sandler upgrades Oracle, says years of low growth are coming to an end
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Oracle could jump more than 20% as it jumpstarts growth with Cloud, according to Piper Sandler. "That said, F2024 is shaping up to be a watershed year, where growth in operating profits and EPS could accelerate to 10%+," Bracelin added. For investors, the implied upside in Oracle shares would come mainly from growth in Oracle Cloud, which is expected to soon surpass revenues from database software for the company. "Despite all the banter on cloud, the 1% CAGR in revenue and operating profits between F2012-F2022 made it easy to ignore ORCL. That may no longer be the case given Oracle Cloud could expand ~26% annually to reach $21.7B by F2025," read the note.

☆ Salesforce's cost-cutting plan is a much-needed move for an economic downturn
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Salesforce (CRM) laid out a cost-cutting plan on Wednesday that is a step in the right direction for the banged-up Club holding. I know that Starboard would've liked double that [number of layoffs] because that's how bloated they think that Salesforce became." Salesforce is the latest tech company to slash headcount as business slows down from Covid-fueled growth and recession fears mount. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

☆ Analysts are still bullish on Microsoft's long-term prospects but see more near-term headwinds
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Still, most analysts covering Microsoft remained bullish on the company in the long-term. While a number of firms covering the tech company lowered their 12-month price targets, buy ratings for the tech giant remained intact. The firm reiterated its buy rating but cut its price target to $315 from $330 to reflect slower growth ahead. Lenschow maintained his overweight rating but lowered his price target to $296 per share from $310. The bank has a buy rating on Microsoft and a price target of $282 per share.

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