Stifel Upgrades Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to Buy on Azure and Copilot Outlook
- Stifel upgraded Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) from Hold to Buy on September 23, 2026, raising its price target from $530 to $575. A price target is an analyst forecast, not a guaranteed return.
- Stifel cited potential growth from Azure, Microsoft 365 Copilot and OpenAI-related revenue. These are the firm’s expectations, while Microsoft’s latest reported results provide evidence of existing cloud and Copilot adoption.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) received an upgrade from analysts at Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE: SF) on September 23, 2026. Stifel moved its rating from Hold to Buy and increased its price target to $575 from $530. Relative to Microsoft’s $498.00 closing price on September 22, the new target implied approximately 15% potential upside at the time of the call.
Stifel analyst Brad Reback expressed greater confidence in Microsoft’s ability to sustain revenue growth in the mid-to-upper teens. The firm pointed to Azure growth, wider adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot and rising OpenAI-related revenue. Those projections depend on future customer demand and execution.
Microsoft’s reported results offer context for that outlook. In its fiscal fourth quarter, Azure and other cloud services revenue grew 43% year over year. For fiscal 2026, Azure revenue exceeded $100 billion, and Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid seats, according to the company.
