Amazon, Google Not Far Behind, But Dan Ives Says Microsoft 'Clearly Leading' In These Segments — $600 Price Target Is 'Probably' Conservative - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

On Thursday, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said that Microsoft Corporation MSFT is outpacing competitors like Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google in the cloud and hyperscaling sectors.

What Happened: Ives, who has become more bullish on Microsoft, has raised his price target for the stock to $600, citing the company's dominant position in cloud computing and hyperscaling technologies.

"Microsoft is clearly leading when it comes to hyperscaling and cloud," Ives said during an interview with The Street.

While Amazon's AWS and Google Cloud have made strides, Ives said that Microsoft's Azure platform has a significant edge, making it a crucial part of the company's success.

He also noted that only 20% of Microsoft's business is currently focused on next-gen cloud and AI, and as this grows to 50-60%, it will fundamentally revalue the company.

“$600 [price target]… I ultimately think its probably conservative,” Ives added.

Why It’s Important: Microsoft currently has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, making it the second most valuable company in the world after Nvidia Corporation NVDA.

Ives has also predicted that Microsoft could reach a $5 trillion valuation within the next 18 months, following his decision to raise the stock's price target to $600 per share.

Microsoft currently holds a consensus price target of $523.73, derived from assessments by 29 analysts. The three latest analyst updates came from Morgan Stanley, Wedbush and Wells Fargo, providing an average price target of $571.67 and suggesting a potential 14.98% upside.

Price Action: Microsoft (MSFT) shares rose 1.05% during Thursday's regular session, followed by a marginal decline of 0.050% in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro. The stock is up 18.84% year-to-date and has gained 10.02% over the past 12 months.

Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings indicate that MSFT has demonstrated a strong price trend across short, medium and long-term periods. While its momentum ranking remains robust, its value ranking is relatively weak. Additional metric details can be found here.