Citibank (NYSE: C) maintained its “Buy” rating on Microsoft Corp. (NASDSAQ: MSFT) and raised the company’s price target to $32.00, up from $31.00 after visiting Microsoft’s Redmond campus.
Analyst Walter H. Pritchard said, “We still believe there is upside to numbers, and we are raising our FY11 EPS based on recent OpEx guidance. Our price target increases to $32 to reflect the increase. We still expect the biggest driver of upside would be the degree to which enterprise spending returns to previous levels. ”
Citibank expects Microsoft to report 2010 earnings per share of $2.05, versus a consensus estimate of $2.01. The bank also raised its expected 2011 earnings per share to $2.26, up from $2.22. Consensus estimates for Microsoft’s 2011 earnings per share sit at $2.22.
Microsoft also received a major bounce this week after revealing more details about its Windows Phone 7 Series line of smart-phones at its “Microsoft Mix” conference. Microsoft had previously been seen as uncompetitive in the smart-phone market with Apple’s iPhone and Google Android based products advancing at much faster paces than Microsoft’s Windows Mobile Platform. The technology community has been largely impressed with Microsoft’s new mobile offering which is slated to launch later this year.
