5 Best Stocks to Buy in 2026 According to Billionaire D.E. Shaw

2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

D. E. Shaw’s Q1 2026 Stake: $2.3 billion 

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s shares are down by 22% over the past year and by 18% year-to-date. Several analysts have discussed the firm in July. For instance, DA Davidson kept a Buy rating on July 6th, while Wolfe Research kept a Buy rating and a $525 share price target on the 5th. Then, on July 7th, BMO Capital cut Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price target to $500 from $515 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The technology company’s second quarter and cloud computing business were on the financial firm’s mind as it remarked that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) should deliver a small upside for its Azure business in the upcoming second quarter earnings.

Bloomberg was out with a major report for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) on July 6th, when it outlined that it expected the firm to cut 3,200 jobs in its Xbox division to streamline operations and divest game development studios.

RiverPark Large Growth Fund discussed Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:

“Microsoft Corporation: MSFT was the portfolio’s largest detractor for the quarter due to various headwinds. In January, Microsoft reported its fiscal Q2 2026 results with strong operational metrics, revenue up 17% year-over-year, Azure up 39%, and RPO of $392 billion up more than 50% year-over-year, but management’s guidance for a sequential deceleration in Azure growth and sharply elevated capital expenditures weighed on investor sentiment. This was then compounded by the sector-wide reassessment of hyperscaler capex cycles in February following Alphabet’s $175–$185 billion and Amazon’s $200 billion 2026 spending announcements. The combination of slowing near-term growth expectations and rising capital intensity drove multiple compression across the entire cloud software and infrastructure group.”