Tech giant Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) just became the world's second company to hit the $4 trillion market cap, after Nvidia (NVDA) did earlier this month. MSFT was last seen up 5.1% at $539.59, after the company reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $3.65 per share on revenue of $76.44 billion. Artificial intelligence (AI) spending gave results a boost, as it did Meta Platforms (META), with investors cheering both reports this morning.
Several analysts have already hit MSFT with lofty price-target hikes, including Scotiabank to $650 from $500. Keybanc upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "sector weight" after a brief downgrade, saying surging Azure growth "solves all problems."
Trading at record highs today, Microsoft stock's all-time peak now sits at $555.45. The stock had been steadily moving higher since its early-May bull gap, with close support at the 20-day moving average. Headed for its fourth-straight monthly win, the equity is up 27.4% year-to-date.
Unsurprisingly, options traders are blasting MSFT after the event. So far, 366,000 calls and 248,000 puts have been exchanged, 5 times the intraday average volume. The weekly 8/1 550-strike call is the most popular, with new positions being opened there.
