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FBR Capital Markets maintained its "outperform" rating on Microsoft Corp, saying that the software giant's multiple product cycles across all of its divisions should have a lasting effect throughout 2011.
Apart from Windows 7 and Office 2010, Microsoft is also closely watched for its strategy on newer initiatives, mainly cloud computing for the enterprise.
"We think Microsoft is reaching the tipping point of now having enough of its core offerings available in the cloud," analyst David Hilal said in a note to clients.
"Microsoft has a very legitimate strategy, which should help the company be a meaningful player in cloud computing and gain real credibility in the consumer device market," Hilal said.
Hilal, who has a price target of $32 on Microsoft, said the company will have an edge over competitors in enterprise cloud computing as it combines applications such as Office, SharePoint, CRM, Exchange, and Communications Server and the platform (Azure).
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"Competitors tend to be strong in one or the other, but we believe Microsoft can be strong in both, enabling enterprises to truly standardize on Microsoft," Hilal said.
In conjunction with its analyst day, Microsoft announced two large cloud wins - one with Dow Chemical and another one with Hyatt.
Hilal also said Microsoft, a Dow component, gained market share over Linux and Apple in Windows, from which the company gains its lion's share of revenue.
According to Microsoft, over the last two years Windows has gained 3.7 points of market share to 76.8 percent while Linux is down 1.7 points to 21.1 percent.
Windows on laptops has also reversed course and actually taken share over Apple last year as its share increased to 92.8 percent from 91.8 percent, according to Microsoft.
Shares of Washington-based Microsoft closed Thursday's trading session at $26.03.
