Wall Street Boosts Microsoft Outlook on Accelerating Azure and Copilot Demand

Microsoft shares rose over 1% on Monday as Wall Street analysts reiterated bullish stances ahead of fiscal first-quarter earnings. Brokerages cited strengthening enterprise demand for the Azure cloud platform and expanding Copilot adoption, helping offset concerns over elevated artificial intelligence infrastructure spending. BNP Paribas maintained an Outperform rating with a $604 price target, pointing to 46% buy-side Azure growth expectations versus official guidance of 44% to 45%. Oppenheimer lifted its price target to $625, projecting $90 billion in quarterly revenue, while full-year capital expenditures previously reached $145 billion.