Ahead of Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) quarterly earnings, an analyst on Sunday reiterated his bullish stance on the stock. The Microsoft Analyst: Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin maintained an Overweight rating and a $455 price target for the stock. The Microsoft Thesis: Microsoft’s fiscal third-quarter results due Thursday could “strengthen our bullish stance” on the company, said Bracelin in a note. Calling Microsoft as his “favorite AI Superstar, the analyst said the company was still in the nascent stages of capitalizing on a “first mover” advantage. Bracelin expects Azure public cloud revenue growth rate to approach 30% from the 27% trough, thanks to increasing custom AI workloads coupled with strong OpenAI and GitHub momentum. Azure’s annualized revenue run rate could hit $76 billion, he ...