OpenAI Seeks $50 Billion Investment from Middle East Sovereign Funds

Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst

MSFT-2.29%

Source: Newsfilter

Updated: 1h ago

0mins

Source: Newsfilter

Funding Talks Underway: OpenAI is in discussions with sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East to secure approximately $50 billion for a new funding round, although the figures may change and term sheets have not yet been signed.
CEO's Direct Involvement: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is in the UAE participating in the investment talks, indicating the company's commitment to this funding opportunity, with expectations for the round to close in the first quarter of the year.
Historical Financing Context: Last year, OpenAI closed a $40 billion financing round led by SoftBank, marking the largest private tech funding on record, further solidifying its leadership position in the AI sector.
Valuation Surge: OpenAI's $6.6 billion share sale in October boosted its valuation to $500 billion, reflecting strong market demand for its AI technology and significant growth potential.

MSFT

$444.11+Infinity%1D

Analyst Views on MSFT

Wall Street analysts forecast MSFT stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for MSFT is 631.36 USD with a low forecast of 500.00 USD and a high forecast of 678.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

34 Analyst Rating

32 Buy

2 Hold

0 Sell

Strong Buy

Current: 454.520

Low

500.00

Averages

631.36

High

678.00

Current: 454.520

Low

500.00

Averages

631.36

High

678.00

Mizuho

Outperform

NULL

downgrade

$640 -> $620

Al Analysis

2026-01-21

New

Reason

Mizuho

Price Target

$640 -> $620

Al Analysis

2026-01-21

New

downgrade

Outperform

NULL

Reason

Mizuho lowered the firm's price target on Microsoft to $620 from $640 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm adjusted targets in large-cap software as part of a Q4 earnings preview. Channel checks were solid overall, with public cloud data points were "generally good" and AI adoption "very strong," the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, Mizuho says some of its checks noted more moderate budget flush activity than usual. In addition, growing investor concerns about AI disruption :continue to decimate many software company multiples," the firm contends. It cites recent multiple compression for the target cuts.

TD Cowen

Buy

downgrade

$655 -> $625

2026-01-20

New

Reason

TD Cowen

Price Target

$655 -> $625

2026-01-20

New

downgrade

Buy

Reason

TD Cowen lowered the firm's price target on Microsoft to $625 from $655 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm previewed its results and said checks suggest demand for GPU and CPU infrastructure is stable or strengthening, and they expect about 2 points of upside to their 37% cc Azure estimates. Cowen suspects lack of growth acceleration due to capacity constraints will keep shares range-bound NT, but they remain constructive on the company's position to serve AI workloads.

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Wells Fargo

Overweight

NULL

downgrade

$700 -> $665

2026-01-08

Reason

Wells Fargo

Price Target

$700 -> $665

2026-01-08

downgrade

Overweight

NULL

Reason

Wells Fargo lowered the firm's price target on Microsoft to $665 from $700 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm believes that AI is still "the name of the 2026 game." Wells sees three key ways to play, namely infrastructure, incumbents, and innovation. While adoption will likely be uneven, secular trend will ultimately drive 2026 performance, it adds.

Northland

Outperform

maintain

$211

2026-01-06

Reason

Northland

Price Target

$211

2026-01-06

maintain

Outperform

Reason

Northland names Nebius a top pick for 2026 and reiterates an Outperform rating on the shares with a $211 price target. The firm sees the company's debt being backed by the Microsoft (MSFT) contract and visibility into where 2.5GW of power will be sourced will be key catalysts for the shares to more than double. The growing period, which is now at three months, to secure debt with respect to the $17B Microsoft contract announced in September likely has investors concerned, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, Northland's discussions with industry participants suggest the growing period of time for Nebius to secure the debt is "100% around managing the near 0% probability of MSFT not needing the contracted capacity or exercising the right to make partial payments or receive credits as renumeration in the very low probability scenario NBIS fails to meet certain agreed upon service levels." It says violation of service levels is a very low probability.

About MSFT

Microsoft Corporation is a technology company. The Company develops and supports software, services, devices, and solutions. The Company’s segments include Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment consists of products and services in its portfolio of productivity, communication, and information services. This segment primarily comprises: Office Commercial, Office Consumer, LinkedIn, and Dynamics business solutions. The Intelligent Cloud segment consists of server products and cloud services, including Azure and other cloud services, SQL Server, Windows Server, Visual Studio, System Center, and related Client Access Licenses (CALs), and Nuance and GitHub; and Enterprise Services, including enterprise support services, industry solutions and Nuance professional services. The More Personal Computing segment primarily comprises Windows, Devices, Gaming, and search and news advertising.

About the author

Emily J. Thompson

Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.