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