TLDR
- Microsoft (MSFT) stock opened at $543.45 on Wednesday, up about 0.4%, close to its one-year high of $553.72.
- The company reported more than $130 billion in new data center leases last quarter, lifting total unstarted lease commitments to $329.1 billion.
- Barclays raised its price target to $600 from $512, while the average analyst target sits at $581.80.
- Microsoft unveiled its Maia 300 AI chip, which it says delivers about 40% more tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU systems.
- Fiscal first-quarter results are due October 28, with analysts expecting $4.72 per share on $90.4 billion in revenue.
Microsoft (MSFT) stock opened at $543.45 on Wednesday, up about 0.4%. The price sits just below its one-year high of $553.72. The company’s market value stands at $4.04 trillion.
Microsoft reported more than $130 billion in new data center leases in the past quarter. The figure came from a regulatory filing and marks the company’s largest quarterly jump in data center leasing by far.
Total commitments for leases that have not yet started reached $329.1 billion as of the quarter ended June 30. That is up from $196.6 billion in the prior period. The costs will not show up on the balance sheet until payments begin.
Jonathan Neilson, Microsoft’s investor relations chief, called the leases “a signal of the continued demand strength that we see.” He added that the leases will serve demand “for many many years.” Some of them depend on certain contractual conditions being met.
Microsoft has been held back by a lack of data center capacity. It paused its leasing activity through much of 2025. Management has said demand still exceeds available capacity, and the commercial backlog sits at a record level.
The Chip and Product Push
Microsoft also revealed its third-generation Maia 300 custom AI processor. The company says it can deliver about 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or dollar than leading GPU-based systems. Multi-gigawatt deployments are planned to begin in 2027.
The chip could lower inference costs and help Azure margins. It may also reduce the company’s reliance on Nvidia and AMD. That is a lot of hope pinned on one piece of silicon.
The company also introduced its Decision-1 model, which it describes as faster and cheaper to run than rivals. New Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices add AI features, 5G and better battery efficiency.
Not everything went smoothly. Microsoft is carrying out another round of layoffs in Israel. Research chief Peter Lee is leaving for Mercedes’ Formula 1 team.
Norway fined Microsoft’s Xandr unit €8.6 million over Grindr data sharing. Nadella and President Brad Smith have also called for stronger AI safeguards.
Analysts and Insiders
Barclays raised its price target to $600 from $512 and kept an “overweight” rating. William Blair started coverage with an “outperform” rating on October 5. BNP Paribas Exane cut the stock to “hold” from “strong-buy” the same day.
Forty-two analysts rate the stock a Buy, four say Hold and two say Sell. MarketBeat lists the consensus as “Moderate Buy.”
Insiders sold 143,009 shares worth about $71.4 million over the past three months. CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares at $501.46 on September 1. EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares at $498.27 on September 14. Both sales were made under pre-arranged plans.
Microsoft last reported earnings on July 29, with EPS of $4.74 against a $4.24 estimate. Revenue came in at $90.01 billion, up 17.7% from a year earlier. The company will pay a $0.98 quarterly dividend on December 10 to holders of record on November 19, up from $0.91. Fiscal first-quarter results are due October 28.
Chart Analysis
Microsoft (MSFT) stock is in a clear uptrend on the daily chart. It broke out of a base near $500 and is now testing its all-time high around $554, with the price at $543.45. The gray zone between $505 and $518 was resistance and now looks like support, backed by a rising trendline near $495 to $510.
The RSI reads 70.73, right at the overbought line, so a short pause would not be unusual. The MACD sits above its signal line (12.35 vs 10.17) with a positive histogram, which points to momentum that is still building.
What to watch: A daily close above $554 would confirm a new all-time high breakout. A drop below the $505 to $518 zone could open the door to $495 and then $475.
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