[Bernstein Maintains Outperform Rating for Microsoft, Raises Target Price to $660]
According to research from Trends Research, Bernstein's August 10 report noted that Microsoft's lease liabilities have increased to $114.4 billion, with future lease obligations rising to $329.1 billion, and fiscal year 2027 purchase commitments reaching $169 billion. The report believes the market has misinterpreted these figures. The existing leases are spread over a 13-year term, with approximately $13.2 billion in rent due in 2027. The $329.1 billion in future leases will commence between 2027 and 2033, and only $25 billion of the $169 billion in purchase commitments pertains to fiscal year 2028 and beyond. Bernstein maintains an outperform rating for Microsoft, raising the target price from $647 to $660 and increasing the price-to-earnings multiple from 26.5x to 27x. Bernstein believes data centers support hybrid deployments of CPUs and GPUs, and if AI demand slows, capacity can pivot to traditional cloud services.
