Microsoft Corp. was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Bank of America Merrill Lynch on Thursday. The bank also raised its stock target on Microsoft to $46 from $39 previously, which implies a 4% improvement from Wednesday’s closing price. The upgrade reflects easier year-over-year comparisons in upcoming quarters and potential upside in its commercial cloud business. However, the analysts still have “a number of concerns,” notably with Windows 10 and the potential for a longer-than-expected transition to the cloud. Shares of Microsoft were up 0.9% to $44.66 in premarket trade. They are down 0.5% over the last three months, versus a 7.5% decline for the broader S&P 500.
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