HSBC Analyst Stephen Bersey Rates Microsoft as Hold with $347 Target

HSBC's Stephen Bersey initiated their coverage on Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) with a Hold rating and a $347 price target. Bersey noted that the U.S. tech sector is experiencing tailwinds that will ramp up operating performance for some companies, but not all. While acknowledging "the promise of AI," the analyst cautions that the timing remains uncertain. However, demand for cloud and digital transformation "remains strong." Bersey stated a preference for companies that are "at critical stages of their operations with leveraged operating models poised to deliver better operating performances than peers."

According to WallStreetZen, Stephen Bersey ranks in the bottom 14% out of 4,329 Wall Street analysts, with an average return of -4.1% and a 25% win rate. The analyst specializes in the Communication Services, Real Estate, and Technology sectors.

As of now, 93.1% of top-rated analysts rate MSFT as a Strong Buy or Buy, while 3.4% see it as a Hold, and another 3.4% either recommend or strongly recommend selling the stock.

The consensus forecast among analysts is that Microsoft's upcoming year will deliver earnings per share (EPS) of $11.05. If the analysts are correct, this would represent a 13.6% increase in yearly EPS on a year-over-year basis.

Looking at the stock's performance, MSFT's price is down 3% since its last quarterly report on June 30, 2023. However, year-over-year, the stock has shown significant growth of 34.6%. During this period, Microsoft has outpaced the S&P 500, which is up 14.1%.

Microsoft Corporation, headquartered in Redmond, Washington, develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions globally. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. Its offerings include popular products such as Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, LinkedIn, Dynamics 365, SQL, Windows Servers, Visual Studio, System Center, GitHub, Nuance, Azure, Surface, Xbox, Bing, and Microsoft advertising. Microsoft sells its products through various channels, including OEMs, distributors, resellers, digital marketplaces, online stores, and retail stores.

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