There’s something to be said for new tools coming out to improve productivity, but sometimes, that productivity benefit really doesn’t help workers so much as it does put a lot of new demands on them. tech giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced plans to roll out its latest workplace conundrum with a new version of Copilot that’s geared toward workers in the financial sector. Investors were reasonably pleased and sent shares up fractionally in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
The new version of Copilot targets Microsoft Excel and will allow easy access to several key tasks seen in the financial sector. The tool will handle variance analyses and data reconciliation. It can even be used in Outlook for collection processes. By the time this year is out, other new tools will be made available. The tool will first be available in public preview, with pricing details coming later.
Microsoft Is Becoming a Significant Competitor to Google’s Search Engine
That’s good news for Microsoft and it gets better from there. Microsoft has what Barclays estimates as a $50 billion opportunity in online advertising. Reports note that Microsoft has augmented its search capabilities and made it a significant competitor to Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL). In addition, there’s a chance that a small hardware refresh for the Xbox Series X could happen as soon as this summer, creating an additional wave of revenue for Microsoft.
What Is the Target Price of Microsoft Stock?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on MSFT stock based on 32 Buys, one Hold, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 64.56% rally in its share price over the past year, the average MSFT price target of $470.02 per share implies 14.75% upside potential.
