Microsoft's AI Bet Is Paying Off, Says Reformed Skeptic
Melius Research analyst Ben Reitzes once warned AI would hurt legacy software giants. Now he's bullish on Microsoft's AI positioning.
Wall Street is finally giving Microsoft its flowers on AI, and one analyst who spent years sounding the alarm is now leading the cheers. Melius Research's Ben Reitzes had long cautioned that artificial intelligence would gut traditional software providers — Microsoft included. His tune has changed, and it matters.
Reitzes isn't some permabull who missed the disruption story. He called the threat early, which makes his reversal credible. When a known skeptic flips bullish, you pay attention. That's not noise — that's signal.
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Microsoft has methodically embedded AI across its product stack, from Azure cloud infrastructure to Copilot integrations baked into Office 365. The company isn't just reacting to the AI wave — it's positioned itself as a toll booth on the highway. Every enterprise that builds or deploys AI increasingly touches Microsoft's ecosystem somewhere.
Reitzes now believes this is just the beginning of Microsoft's AI upside, not the peak. That framing is critical for traders. If the easy gains were already priced in, a longtime skeptic wouldn't be upgrading his outlook — he'd be taking chips off the table. The fact that he sees more runway ahead suggests Wall Street's enthusiasm may not be ahead of the fundamentals.
For retail traders watching the mega-cap tech space, Microsoft's AI story has a rare combination: institutional validation, product breadth, and a credible analyst who stress-tested the bear case and came out bullish anyway. Continue reading at US Top News and Analysis.
