10 Jim Cramer Stocks to Watch as US-China Prepare to Begin Talks

2. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 279

Alex Kantrowitz, Big Technology podcast founder, said in a latest program on CNBC that Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) results showed that the economy was in a better shape in the first quarter than expected. He believes the company is in a better position when compared with Amazon:

“I think what the Microsoft earnings results underscore, and the expectations for Amazon underscore, is that the economy was actually in quite good shape in Q1. So, I do expect to see Amazon benefit from that. Now, the only overhang for Amazon is they didn’t have the OpenAI models in the way that Microsoft has. I know AI isn’t driving all the cloud spending, but that is important when companies think about the way they’re going to expand their thinking on that. So, Microsoft could be in better shape than Amazon.”

Mar Vista U.S. Quality Select Strategy stated the following regarding Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

“Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported strong bookings, highlighted by an accelerating remaining performance obligation of nearly $300 billion, representing 36% year-over-year growth, as well as healthy cloud revenue growth of 21% year-over-year. Despite this solid performance, MSFT stock came under pressure as Azure revenue growth, at 31% year-over-year, came in at the low end of expectations. Additionally, guidance for the March quarter forecasted Azure revenue growth of 31% to 32%, reflecting a slowdown in non-AI related Azure growth.

We continue to believe Microsoft is well-positioned to gain market share as organizations of all sizes pivot toward a digital-first future and adopt generative AI solutions. With a strong presence in the enterprise and a comprehensive portfolio spanning infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and software-as-a-service (SaaS), Microsoft is a mission-critical IT provider across industries.

The company is executing effectively against a significant market opportunity by delivering a roadmap for digital transformation and the adoption of innovative AI tools like ChatGPT. This helps businesses boost productivity while reducing costs. Consequently, we expect Microsoft’s solutions to remain resilient even in a challenging macroeconomic environment, supporting low double-digit intrinsic value growth over our investment horizon.”