Barclays has revised its price target for Microsoft (MSFT, Financial), lowering it from $475 to $430, while maintaining an Overweight rating on the shares. This adjustment is part of their preview for the upcoming Q1 earnings for U.S. software companies.
The firm anticipates that the first quarter will not act as a significant catalyst for the sector's stocks. Initial observations, or channel checks, indicate some weakness but nothing catastrophic. However, Barclays suggests that investors will likely pay more attention to future guidance rather than just Q1 results.
Despite the modest expectations for the first quarter, Barclays remains uncertain whether management teams will significantly lower their forecasts, given the relatively minor impact of this quarter. As such, the firm believes that clarity might not emerge until the second quarter.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast
Based on the one-year price targets offered by 49 analysts, the average target price for Microsoft Corp (MSFT, Financial) is $492.36 with a high estimate of $650.00 and a low estimate of $423.00. The average target implies an upside of 33.87% from the current price of $367.78. More detailed estimate data can be found on the Microsoft Corp (MSFT) Forecast page.
Based on the consensus recommendation from 60 brokerage firms, Microsoft Corp's (MSFT, Financial) average brokerage recommendation is currently 1.8, indicating "Outperform" status. The rating scale ranges from 1 to 5, where 1 signifies Strong Buy, and 5 denotes Sell.
Based on GuruFocus estimates, the estimated GF Value for Microsoft Corp (MSFT, Financial) in one year is $497.43, suggesting a upside of 35.25% from the current price of $367.78. GF Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value that the stock should be traded at. It is calculated based on the historical multiples the stock has traded at previously, as well as past business growth and the future estimates of the business' performance. More detailed data can be found on the Microsoft Corp (MSFT) Summary page.
