Jefferies raises price target on Microsoft after Copilot upgrade

The investment bank Jefferies has become more positive on Microsoft's bet on the AI tool Copilot. Analyst Brent Thill maintains a buy rating and sets the price target at $575 per share after Microsoft upgraded Copilot with new features at the end of September.

The new features are called Cowork, Code and Autopilot. In short, the idea is that Copilot should be able to carry out longer and more autonomous work tasks for users, instead of just helping with individual questions or tasks. Autopilot, for example, is meant to carry out tasks continuously and on its own initiative, without an employee having to ask each time.

Jefferies believes this opens the door for Microsoft to make more money on AI, both through subscriptions and through pay-per-use. According to the analysis, Microsoft has an advantage because the company already controls large parts of the technology that companies already use, such as Office programs, cloud services, security and data management. This makes it easier to integrate the AI tools deeply into companies' workflows.

At the same time, Jefferies warns that better AI features do not automatically mean companies will spend more. Many companies are keeping a close eye on their AI budgets and demand clear evidence that the investment pays off before increasing spending. The deciding factor will therefore be whether the new Copilot features are actually used in practice in companies' daily work, and not just shown off as demos.

For ordinary Danes who use Microsoft's products at work, the development may mean that more AI features show up in programs like Outlook, Teams and Excel in the near future. Whether it also means higher prices for businesses is still unclear.