Wedbush analyst Dan Ives believes Microsoft’s Office 365 price hike could boost the stock price as much as 18%.
Microsoft announced price hikes for Office 365 of $1 to $2 per month. While relatively minor, when factoring in hundreds of millions of users, Ives believes the price hike could contribute up to $5 billion in revenue, according to Business Insider.
As a result of the move, Ives has raised his price target from $325 to $350 a share.
“The Office 365 price increase for 2022 was a smart strategic poker move that could be another $5 billion+ incremental tailwind for Redmond in 2022, giving more confidence that numbers could continue to move up higher looking ahead,” Ives said.
Ives reiterated a position he has taken in the past, that Microsoft is uniquely positioned in the cloud market to make major gains moving forward.
“Microsoft remains our favorite large cap cloud play and we believe the stock will move higher into year-end as the Street further appreciates the cloud transformation story in Redmond,” Ives concluded.