Stock Market Nears Record Highs as Investors Anticipate Fed Rate Cut
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Dec 03 2025
0mins
Should l Buy MSFT?
Source: MarketWatch
Stock Market Gains: All three major U.S. stock indexes experienced consecutive gains, driven by a weak private-sector hiring report that bolstered expectations for an interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Proximity to Record Highs: The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average are nearing their record highs, with the Dow closing at 47,882.90, just 0.8% away from its all-time high of 48,254.82.
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Analyst Views on MSFT
Wall Street analysts forecast MSFT stock price to rise
34 Analyst Rating
32 Buy
2 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 404.370
Low
500.00
Averages
631.36
High
678.00
Current: 404.370
Low
500.00
Averages
631.36
High
678.00
About MSFT
Microsoft Corporation is a technology company that develops and supports software, services, devices, and solutions. Its Productivity and Business Processes segment consists of products and services in its portfolio of productivity, communication, and information services, spanning a variety of devices and platforms. It comprises Microsoft 365 Commercial products and cloud services; Microsoft 365 Consumer products and cloud services; LinkedIn, and Dynamics products and cloud services. The Intelligent Cloud segment consists of its public, private, and hybrid server products and cloud services. It comprises server products and cloud services, including Azure, and enterprise and partner services, including Enterprise Support Services. Its More Personal Computing segment primarily comprises Windows and Devices, including Windows OEM licensing; Gaming, including Xbox hardware and Xbox content; Search and news advertising, comprising Bing and Copilot, Microsoft News, and Microsoft Edge.
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.
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See More
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- Strategic Partnership Driving Growth: The $5 billion strategic partnership with Brookfield Asset Management enables Bloom to offer energy-as-a-service across Brookfield's trillion-dollar infrastructure portfolio, driving its product backlog to $6 billion, reflecting strong market demand.
- Production Capacity Expansion: Bloom Energy plans to double its production capacity from 1 GW to 2 GW by the end of 2026, and successfully delivered products to Oracle in just 55 days, far exceeding its 90-day promise, further solidifying its market position.
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See More
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- Strategic Partnership: The $5 billion partnership with Brookfield Asset Management enables Bloom to provide energy services across its trillion-dollar infrastructure portfolio, further solidifying its leadership in the energy market.
- Capacity Expansion: Bloom plans to double its production capacity from 1 GW to 2 GW by the end of 2026, raising its 2026 revenue guidance from $3.1 billion to $3.3 billion, reflecting strong confidence in future growth.
- Optimistic Market Outlook: Despite a high P/E ratio of 107, analysts project EPS to reach $2.92 in 2027 and $4.58 in 2028, indicating that the company will continue to benefit from strong electricity demand growth in the coming years.
See More
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- Significant Funding: Anthropic announced a $30 billion funding round, pushing its valuation to $380 billion, more than doubling since September, indicating strong market confidence in its growth potential, particularly in the enterprise AI sector.
- Rapid Revenue Growth: The company reported a run-rate revenue of $14 billion, growing more than tenfold annually over the past three years, reflecting its robust performance in the fast-evolving AI market and potentially laying the groundwork for a future IPO.
- Market Leadership Shift: According to Menlo Ventures, Anthropic has captured approximately 40% of enterprise AI spending, up from 24% in 2024, surpassing OpenAI and demonstrating its rapid ascent in the industry.
- Contrasting Governance Approaches: Anthropic donated $20 million to Public First Action to promote AI governance, contrasting with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's preference for a single federal regulatory framework, highlighting differing strategic directions in AI governance.
See More
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- Microsoft's Stock Volatility: Microsoft (MSFT) shares soared over the past year due to investments in OpenAI and AI infrastructure, but dropped over 16% in 2026, with analysts predicting that its AI spending will pressure profitability; Stifel downgraded the stock and cut its price target by nearly 30%.
- Diversification Strategy: While Microsoft still holds long-term value, its price fluctuations highlight the importance of a diversified AI investment portfolio, suggesting that investors anchor their holdings with a clear leader to navigate future growth in AI-related companies.
- Nvidia's Growth Potential: Nvidia (NVDA) expects $3 trillion to $4 trillion to be spent on AI infrastructure by 2030, as reiterated by CFO Colette Kress, indicating that the company will benefit from growth in the AI sector, with a reasonable forward P/E ratio of about 25, making it suitable for long-term investment.
See More
