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Jensen Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., displays the new Blackwell GPU chip during the Nvidia GPU Technology Conference on March 18, 2024. Nvidia shares popped more than 11% Wednesday after remarks from top customer Microsoft and rival chipmaker AMD signaled there wouldn't be a slowdown in the multibillion-dollar buildout of AI servers based around GPUs. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and finance chief Amy Hood said Tuesday the company plans to spend even more on Nvidia-based infrastructure next year. Microsoft spent $19 billion on capital expenditures during the fiscal fourth quarter, with about 60% on hardware. Nvidia has been the primary beneficiary of the AI boom.

Persons: Jensen Huang, Satya Nadella, Amy Hood, Microsoft's capex, Karl Keirstead, Morgan Stanley, Joseph Moore, Moore, Blackwell, Blackwell ramping Organizations: Nvidia Corp, Blackwell, Nvidia, Technology, Microsoft, AMD, UBS

Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Netflix to $700 from $600. 7:13 a.m.: JPMorgan cuts Boeing price target, but says demand should push strong long-term growth Investors shouldn't give up on Boeing as a long-term investment, according to JPMorgan. Analyst Seth Seifman lowered his price target by $20 to $210, implying 21.1% potential upside for shares of the aerospace company. He raised his target price by $14 to $62, which suggests 4.2% potential upside for DocuSign over the next year. The analyst kept his neutral rating on the stock but cut his price target by $16 to $180.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Seth Seifman, Seifman, — Pia Singh, Evan Seigerman, Seigerman, Karl Keirstead, DocuSign, Keirstead, Itay Michaeli, Michaeli, Tesla, Elon Musk, Benjamin Swinburne, Swinburne, Wolfe, Shreyas Patil, Patil, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Netflix, Wolfe Research, JPMorgan, Boeing, Novo Nordisk, BMO Capital Markets BMO Capital, pharma, UBS, Adobe, Citi, Citi Research, Tesla, Netflix Netflix, Mobileye Locations: China, Novo, U.S, Netflix's

☆ Microsoft closes at all-time high on fresh OpenAI-related optimism
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft ended Tuesday's trading session at a record high of $360.53, following fresh optimism about growth from a key partner in artificial intelligence. The major U.S. indices all posted gains for the day, with the S&P 500 notching its seventh-consecutive rise, while Microsoft delivered its eighth. At an event in San Francisco on Monday, Microsoft's strategic AI partner, OpenAI, announced a slew of updates, including price cuts and plans to allow people to make custom versions of the ChatGPT chatbot. Oppenheimer analysts, with the equivalent of a buy rating, said OpenAI's price updates confirm OpenAI's status as the category leader. Microsoft said in a regulatory filing in October that OpenAI is its "strategic partner" on AI.

Persons: OpenAI, Satya Nadella, Karl Keirstead, Oppenheimer, it's Organizations: Microsoft, OpenAI's, Windows, UBS, Amazon Web Services, Amazon Locations: U.S, San Francisco, OpenAI

☆ The generative AI hype hasn't translated to cloud sales yet, as customers don't know if they should jump in. Microsoft is the one exception.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Microsoft and Google, the next two biggest American cloud providers, also saw cloud revenue growth rates slow this year. Microsoft Azure and other cloud services saw revenue growth of 29%, down from 35% this time last year. Wall Street has been hopeful that generative AI will provide a much-needed revenue boost for the big three cloud providers. The one exception is Microsoft, which has spent billions investing in generative AI startup OpenAI, maker of the chatbot ChatGPT. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stressed on the earnings call Thursday that generative AI is still in its "early days."

Persons: Karl Keirstead, they're, they'd, Rishi Jaluria, Andy Jassy, Jassy, Ellen Thomas Organizations: Microsoft, Web Services, Google, UBS, Enterprises, Wall, RBC Capital Markets, Amazon Locations: Ukraine, Israel, ethomas@insider.com

☆ The generative-AI hype hasn't translated to cloud sales yet, as customers don't know if they should jump in. Microsoft is the one exception.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rates of cloud-computing sales growth slowed to historical lows this year as customers slashed IT budgets. Microsoft and Google, the next two biggest American cloud providers, also saw rates of cloud-revenue growth slow this year. Microsoft's Azure and other cloud services saw revenue growth of 29%, down from 35% this time last year. Google this week reported a 22% year-over-year increase in cloud revenue the past quarter, down from 28% the previous quarter. The company attributed this to customer "optimization," or looking for ways to save money on cloud services.

Persons: Karl Keirstead, they're, they'd, Rishi Jaluria, Andy Jassy, Jassy, Ellen Thomas Organizations: Microsoft, Web Services, Google, Enterprises, UBS, Wall, RBC Capital Markets, Amazon Locations: Ukraine, Israel, ethomas@insider.com

☆ CNBC Daily Open: Oil deals ahead of Big Tech earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In this article GOOGL Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTOmar Marques | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesThis report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Unlike more focused software companies, Microsoft "has full geographic coverage across all industry verticals," UBS analyst Karl Keirstead said, and that makes Microsoft less susceptible to downturns in any one sector or region. Most analysts predict the sales of weight loss drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro could easily exceed $100 billion. Still, that's conservative compared to Guggenheim's expectations of $150 billion to $200 billion in sales.

Persons: Omar Marques, Hess, Canaccord, Tony Dwyer, Karl Keirstead, Mounjaro, drugmaker Eli Lilly Organizations: Lightrocket, CNBC, Big Tech, Nasdaq, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Stocks, Microsoft, UBS, Wall Street, Citi, Novo Nordisk Locations: .

☆ This Big Tech stock could be a hedge against a recession in 2024, UBS says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft could act as a defensive stock if the U.S. enters a mild recession next year, according to UBS analyst Karl Keirstead. Interest rates While higher interest rates pressure valuations across the tech sector, the UBS analyst expects Microsoft to benefit disproportionately if rates decline in 2024. The company's strong free cash flow generation also makes its stock less rate-sensitive than some of its tech peers, according to Keirstead. "The tech sector tends to be reasonably rate sensitive, and so in a declining rate environment, the tech sector will be one that a lot of investors will gravitate to," he said. "I think that notion of inverse sensitivity to rates is more powerful than the impact of rates on Microsoft's cash balance."

Persons: Karl Keirstead, Keirstead Organizations: Microsoft, UBS, Cloud, Nvidia, company's Locations: U.S, United States, California

☆ UBS upgrades this stock it says can jump another 20% on AI excitement
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Analyst Karl Keirstead upgraded the database management company to buy from neutral and raised his price target by $20 to $140. "We believe GPU supply constraints could be enough to drive outsized performance in Oracle shares." Despite its stock price run-up this year, UBS thinks shares still have plenty of room to grow. Keirstead noted four positive catalysts for the company: AI startups may only be in their first quarter in ramping up their use of OCI. Less than half of sell-side analysts rate Oracle shares a buy.

Persons: Karl Keirstead, Keirstad, Keirstead, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: UBS, Oracle, Oracle Cloud, Nvidia Locations: ramping

☆ Microsoft shares fall after earnings report as analysts process a delayed A.I. ramp
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft shares were trading down as much as 5% on Wednesday, a day after the software maker issued worse-than-expected quarterly revenue guidance. Microsoft has been increasing its capital expenditures to get infrastructure in place to provide AI services to developers at other companies and roll out assistant capabilities to apps such as Word and Outlook. The extra spending cuts into Microsoft's cloud gross margin. "The messaging on Copilot was more about tempering rather than inflating expectations," wrote UBS analysts led by Karl Keirstead, which also has a buy rating on Microsoft. Raymond James' Andrew Marok and Mauricio Munoz, with the equivalent of a buy rating on Microsoft shares, had a similar tone.

Persons: Amy Hood, Mark Murphy, Karl Keirstead, It's, Brad Reback, Raymond James, Andrew Marok, Mauricio Munoz, Satya Nadella, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Microsoft, JPMorgan, UBS

☆ What Alphabet and Microsoft are saying about A.I. on their earnings calls
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Second-quarter earnings season brought heavyweight technology giants and artificial intelligence frontrunners Alphabet and Microsoft head-to-head in an all-too-familiar matchup. Alphabet shares rose 6% after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly results and 28% year-over-year growth in cloud revenue, while Microsoft lost 4% on disappointing revenue guidance and a delayed AI rollout . GOOGL YTD mountain Alphabet shares in 2023 Both Alphabet and Microsoft have spearheaded the effort, facing off with competing chatbots early in the year. Alphabet Alphabet rolled out its Bard chatbot worldwide during the second quarter, removed a testing waitlist and added a host of new capabilities. Microsoft Despite confidence in Microsoft's long-term capabilities, some investors and analysts seemed disappointed by the seemingly delayed rollout of many of its AI products.

Persons: Bard, Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Ruth Porat, Goldman Sachs, Eric Sheridan, Amy Hood, Karl Keirstead, Satya Nadella, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Microsoft, Wall, UBS

☆ UBS says Microsoft shares are 'too attractive' not to buy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The artificial intelligence opportunity and recent underperformance of Microsoft make it hard to stay on the sidelines, UBS said. Analyst Karl Keirstead upgraded the technology stock to buy from neutral and raised his price target by $55 to $400. "We upgrade Microsoft shares to Buy from Neutral on evidence that Azure/AWS cloud infrastructure spend is beginning to stabilize after a significant deceleration over the past year," he said in a note to clients Thursday. Keirstead downgraded Microsoft early in the year, arguing that spending trends for cloud programs such as Azure and Amazon Web Services were going downhill. He argued that Azure's decline, in the case of Microsoft, could weigh on the stock.

Persons: Karl Keirstead, Keirstead, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Microsoft, UBS, Web Services

☆ 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.

☆ Microsoft drops after UBS analysts warn of weakness in the cloud
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Microsoft shares sank almost 5% on Wednesday while the broader tech market rallied after analysts at UBS said the software company faces weakness, particularly in the cloud. Keirstead pointed to concerns at Azure, Microsoft's cloud computing platform, and Office 365, the company's family of productivity software. Microsoft provides year-over-year growth for Azure and other cloud services but doesn't give a dollar figure, nor does it specify how much of the growth comes just from Azure. The Azure and other cloud services metric also includes, among other things, enterprise mobility and security, or EMS, tools that can be sold separately. Cloud rival Google put together an estimate of Microsoft's Azure business, based on a leaked Microsoft document and some extrapolation of other market data.

☆ Microsoft shares lag Big Tech peers as growth worries prompt UBS downgrade
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 4 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) underperformed big technology peers on U.S. exchanges on Wednesday as its shares fell 5.3% following a downgrade by brokerage UBS on worries over slowing growth for its cloud services and Office suite. After years of rapid growth in the cloud business that made Microsoft an investor darling, the Satya Nadella-led software giant is now battling lower spending by businesses reeling with rising borrowing costs. UBS lowered the stock to "neutral" from "buy" and cut the price target by $50 to $250. Microsoft's stock hit a near two-month low of $226, making it the biggest loser on the benchmark S&P 500 index. Shares of Amazon were also down 2% after UBS lowered the price target on the stock to $125 from $165 on concerns over slowing cloud growth.

☆ UBS downgrades Microsoft, cites weakening outlook for Azure and Office
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

On Azure, the analyst said the company's growth engine is entering a "steep growth deceleration" that could be worse in 2023 and 2024 than investors are expecting. Shares of Microsoft were down roughly 29% in 2022, snapping a 10-year winning streak. "This full-year performance and the modest -4% correction since the tough 1Q/Sept print appears a testament to Microsoft's diversified and relatively sticky enterprise-focused portfolio," Keirstead wrote. We are not making a material negative call on the stock, but at 24.5x CY23E FCF, Microsoft shares already embed a 'defensive premium' and are a consensus long," Keirstead added. Shares of Microsoft were down about 2% in Wednesday premarket trading.

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