INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
At least six brokerages raised their price targets on Microsoft's stock after the results.Shares of Microsoft Corp were set to open at a
record high on Friday, after the company reported another blockbuster quarter, backed by growth in its legacy software business and Azure
Shares of one of the technology world's oldest and best-known names rose 4 per cent to $108.50 in trading before the bell, potentially
adding nearly $32 billion to a market capitalisation that was already $802 billion at close on Thursday.At least six brokerages raised their
price targets on the company's stock after the results.Helped by a boom in demand for cloud-based software, Microsoft has more than doubled
in value since Satya Nadella took over as chief executive in 2014 and refocused the software behemoth on newer businesses.While Microsoft's
core productivity and business processes unit, which includes the Office 365 software suite, rose 13.1 per cent to $9.67 billion, revenue
for the Azure cloud service jumped 89 percent."Based on the results, they were able to beat on all major metrics that people were focusing
I don't see anything that should raise an eyebrow of concern", said Daniel Morgan, a portfolio manager at Synovus Trust who holds 418,716
Microsoft shares.Microsoft has been investing heavily to bolster the fast-growing cloud business and catch up with market leader Amazon.com
Inc's Amazon Web Services.It also competes with Alphabet Inc, IBM and Alibaba."Our early investments in the intelligent cloud and
intelligent edge are paying off, and we will continue to expand our reach in large and growing markets with differentiated innovation,"
Nadella said on a conference call on Thursday.Analysts expect the investments to pay off in the long run and provide rich dividends to
shareholders, allowing Microsoft to rival Apple Inc and Amazon in the race to be the first company worth $1 trillion."Our view on MSFT is
unchanged: the stock is our favorite large cap name and we expect MSFT to deliver 10-20% annual stock price appreciation for the next
several years," Canaccord Genuity analyst Richard Davis wrote in a client note.Of the 35 analysts covering the stock, 31 have a "buy" or
higher rating, three are on "hold" and only one on "strong sell"."Microsoft has successfully come from behind to exceed Amazon's cloud
revenue, and that gap is only increasing in Microsoft's favor," Mark Sami, vice president at consultancy firm SPR said."I predict that
