All articles tagged with #azure
Microsoft is heading for its worst month since 2000, with roughly a 17% drop in June as investors weigh AI spending against traditional software, though some analysts remain bullish with a $550 price target. The broader tech picture is mixed: the XLK is up about 27% in 2026, while the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF has fallen roughly 10% over the past month.
Microsoft released Azure Linux 4.0, a Fedora 43–based, open-source Linux distro tuned for cloud workloads on Azure; it is a minimal, text‑based OS with no GUI, uses the dnf5 package manager, and is available publicly in preview to run on Azure VMs and AKS, with Azure Container Linux as an immutable companion. The move signals Microsoft’s role as a Linux maintainer and aims to offer an end‑to‑end, single‑vendor OS stack with SBOMs, while non‑Azure installations aren’t supported and desktop use isn’t intended; WSL integration is planned for development workflows.
Stifel lowers Microsoft’s price target to $400, warning that Street FY27 gross-margin estimates don’t fully reflect Azure-driven margin compression and ongoing cloud capex. The firm models FY27 gross margins around 63% (about 450 bps below the consensus 66.5%), with Azure margins near 47.5% still dragging overall margins by roughly 300 bps YoY due to mix shift. Higher operating expenses and finance lease costs could keep FY27 EPS about $1 below Street expectations (roughly $18.5–$19 vs. ~ $19.5).
Microsoft is sourcing capacity from Amazon Web Services to bolster GitHub amid a surge in AI-powered coding activity, reflecting a broader multi-cloud strategy as GitHub experiences outages and Microsoft accelerates its move to Azure while staying connected to rival cloud providers to keep services running.
Microsoft reveals a Linux-centric push at Build 2026, unveiling Azure Linux 4.0 as a general‑purpose server, Azure Container Linux for immutable container hosts, and Windows 11 enhancements with deeper Linux tooling via WSL (including an Intelligent Terminal and native GNU-like utilities). It also introduces the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, a top‑tier AI workstation preconfigured with WSL 2, CUDA, and MXC sandboxing, signaling a full Linux continuum across cloud, desktop, and AI workloads.
Microsoft unveiled Azure Linux 4.0, its first general-purpose Linux distribution for Azure, split into a traditional VM image and a dedicated Azure Container Linux (ACL) for container workloads. Based on Fedora and upstreamed via Flatcar, the distro is open source on GitHub and designed to integrate tightly with Azure, with ACL immutable and the VM image usable for all Azure workloads. Developers can run a Windows-hosted path via WSL in the future, but no desktop GUI is planned. Microsoft commits to a two-year support window with monthly security updates and an opt-in automatic-upgrade option, while remaining compatible with other Azure-supported distros. The move signals a deeper Microsoft embrace of Linux and open source in the AI-centric cloud era.
Security researcher Justin O'Leary alleges a critical privilege-escalation flaw in Azure Backup for AKS could let a low-privileged user become cluster-admin via Trusted Access; Microsoft rejected the report as expected behavior with no product changes and blocked CVE issuance, while CERT/CC independently validated the bug and assigned VU#284781. After disclosure, Microsoft reportedly changed behavior and added permission checks, suggesting a silent patch; no public advisory or CVE was issued, leaving defenders with limited visibility into exposure and remediation timelines.
Pershing Square disclosed it began accumulating Microsoft shares in February after a pullback post-earnings, buying at about 21x forward earnings and calling the position a core holding. Ackman argues sentiment over AI competition and Azure growth is overly pessimistic, highlighting Microsoft’s M365/Copilot moat and ongoing R&D as potential accelerators, and notes the move mirrors his prior bets on Alphabet, Amazon and Meta ahead of 13F filings.
Security researchers describe ConsentFix v3, an automated phishing workflow that exploits the OAuth2 authorization code flow to steal tokens and hijack Microsoft/Azure accounts. The campaign uses Pipedream as the automation engine, hosts a spoofed Microsoft login on Cloudflare Pages, and exfiltrates the OAuth code to immediately exchange it for tokens, enabling access to emails and files even with MFA. Mitigations include token binding, behavioral detection rules, and app authentication restrictions; it remains unclear how widely this variant is being adopted.
Microsoft beat on earnings with Azure up about 40% and AI helping upbeat guidance, but the stock fell about 1.7% in premarket trading as investors weighed margin impact and the near-term outlook.
Microsoft posted a Q3 adjusted EPS of $4.27 on revenue of $82.89 billion (above forecasts of $4.05 and $81.46B). Intelligent Cloud revenue reached $34.7B with Azure up 40% year over year, while the AI business hit a $37B annual run rate. Despite the beat, the stock fell about 1.8% in after-hours trading.
Microsoft trades around $369 with a 12-month price target of $491.47; bulls say Azure’s 39% growth and OpenAI-backed Azure AI spend could lift the stock to about $601 within a year, while a bear case sits near $436.41. Longer-term projections rise to $570 (2027), $650 (2028), $761.92 (2029) and $818.04 (2030) as AI monetization and Azure backlog provide multi-year revenue visibility, though heavy AI-related capex and macro headwinds pose risks.
Microsoft stock dipped about 2–3% to around $374 after Q2 FY2026 revenue of $81.27B beat estimates and Azure grew 39% year over year, but investors remain focused on OpenAI dependence and earnings quality. The company’s capital expenditure jumped to $29.9B, and OpenAI reported $3.1B in losses in Q1; Microsoft holds roughly 27% of OpenAI, with OpenAI warning that changes to the partnership could impact its business. Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating with a $500 price target, highlighting Azure’s backlog and AI upside despite near-term uncertainty.
A Motley Fool analysis argues Microsoft is undervalued after a roughly 30% drop from its peak, projecting about 15% annual growth in revenue and EPS over the next three years. Using a 33x earnings multiple, the piece estimates MSFT could reach around $774 in three years (about double today’s price near $390), driven by Azure and the broader AI strategy, with OpenAI as a wildcard; it also notes the Stock Advisor picks do not rate MSFT as a current top pick.
OpenAI has struck a major deal with Amazon to expand AWS capacity for its AI systems, adding a significant new computing option alongside Microsoft Azure. The arrangement is described as not altering the long-standing Microsoft–OpenAI partnership; Microsoft retains exclusive rights to OpenAI technology and core services will continue to run on Azure, with open terms for future multi-cloud collaborations. The move is meant to meet rising demand without replacing Microsoft as the primary partner. Analysts still rate both AMZN and MSFT as Strong Buys, with MSFT offering about 51% upside versus roughly 34% for Amazon.