Street View: Microsoft's cloud, AI prowess fuels optimism

** Microsoft MSFT.O forecast on Wednesday stronger-than-expected quarterly growth for its cloud-computing business Azure after blowout results in the latest quarter, calming investor worries in an uncertain economy

** Shares gain 8.31% to $428.09 premarket

AZURE - A RAY OF LIGHT

** Barclays ("overweight," PT: $494) says Azure re-acceleration should drive shares higher from here
** "It does not often happen that a Mega-cap company can significantly surprise investors with an earnings report, but that is what happened with MSFT" - Barclays

** J.P.Morgan ("overweight," PT: $475) says MSFT's business shows no signs of macro stress or strain, with commercial demand remaining steady in April and expected to remain so moving forward

** Wedbush ("outperform," PT: $515) says "MSFT remains in the driver’s seat in this AI revolution, with elevated use cases for its tech stack leading to accelerated adoption within its massive enterprise installed base"

** RBC Capital Markets ("outperform," PT: $525) says the execution from the core Azure business (non-AI) was pleasing and capacity constraints appear to be getting under control