Citizens analyst Patrick Walravens reiterated a Market Outperform rating and $550.00 price target on Microsoft. Microsoft announced on July 6 in a blog post that it is eliminating approximately 4,800 roles, or roughly 2.1% of its workforce. Amy Coleman, EVP and Chief People Officer, stated the roles eliminated are not being replaced by AI, but the announcement follows Microsoft’s broader push to reorganize around AI transformation. On July 2, Microsoft announced Microsoft Frontier Company, a new operating business focused on helping enterprises achieve large-scale AI transformation. Microsoft said it is investing $2.5 billion and deploying 6,000 industry and engineering experts, including Forward Deployed Engineers, to work directly with customers. Citizens published a note discussing how Microsoft’s AI strategy fits into the firm’s broader view that enterprises increasingly want control over their data, models, agents, tools, and governance.