Will Microsoft's Hire Of Sam Altman Accelerate Generative AI? 3 Analysts On Satya Nadella's Power Move

In a recent turn of events, Open AI’s co-founder Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman will now lead a new advanced AI research team at Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) following their ouster from OpenAI and the board’s refusal to bring them back.

OpenAI’s chief scientist and board member Ilya Sutskever regrets the board's actions that led to Altman being fired from the company he co-founded. Sutskever said he would do everything to reunite the company.

Meanwhile, employees at OpenAI are asking the board to resign.

Here’s what analysts have to say about Altman’s hiring by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Wedbush on Microsoft

Calling the weekend turn of events as an “embarrassing circus show,” analyst Daniel Ives says “MSFT hired this key asset and now he will oversee OpenAI from Redmond along with Nadella which is the music to the ears of investors.”

Ives sees Microsoft now in a stronger position from an AI perspective with Altman and Brockman at Microsoft running the AI wing.

Wedbush reiterated their Outperform rating and $425 price target on Microsoft stock.

Oppenheimer on Microsoft

“A major MSFT win!” exclaimed analyst Timothy Horan, CFA.

Horan says this is a win-win for Microsoft. CEO Nadella has an excellent relationship with Altman, with the two forging the original partnership. Others are also Redmond-friendly; so the commitments signed between the two companies are broad and durable, Horan noted. The team could possibly make the next great larger language models (LLM).

On generative AI, the note headlined: “GAI innovation/growth set to accelerate.”

Oppenheimer has an Outperform rating on the stock with a 12-18 month target price of $410.

Evercore ISI on Microsoft

Analyst Kirk Materne thought the long-term opportunity around GenAI for Microsoft trumps any near-term risk associated with the OpenAI disruption. The new research team headed by Altman and Brockman could be a “clear win” for Microsoft.

Materne has an Outperform rating on the stock with a price target of $432.

MSFT Price Action: Microsoft stock was trading at $376.5 on Monday, at the time of publication.