Exclusive | U.S. Weighs Ban on Chinese-Made Router in Millions of American Homes
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Dec 18 2024
0mins
Should l Buy MSFT?
Source: WSJ
Investigation into Cybersecurity Risks: U.S. authorities are investigating TP-Link, a Chinese router manufacturer, for potential national-security risks due to links between its devices and cyberattacks.
Market Dominance and Government Use: TP-Link holds approximately 65% of the U.S. router market and is widely used by federal agencies, including the Defense Department, raising concerns about security implications.
Trade with 70% Backtested Accuracy
Stop guessing "Should I Buy MSFT?" and start using high-conviction signals backed by rigorous historical data.
Sign up today to access powerful investing tools and make smarter, data-driven decisions.
Analyst Views on MSFT
Wall Street analysts forecast MSFT stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for MSFT is 631.36 USD with a low forecast of 500.00 USD and a high forecast of 678.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
34 Analyst Rating
32 Buy
2 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 401.140
Low
500.00
Averages
631.36
High
678.00
Current: 401.140
Low
500.00
Averages
631.36
High
678.00
About MSFT
Microsoft Corporation is a technology company that develops and supports software, services, devices, and solutions. Its Productivity and Business Processes segment consists of products and services in its portfolio of productivity, communication, and information services, spanning a variety of devices and platforms. It comprises Microsoft 365 Commercial products and cloud services; Microsoft 365 Consumer products and cloud services; LinkedIn, and Dynamics products and cloud services. The Intelligent Cloud segment consists of its public, private, and hybrid server products and cloud services. It comprises server products and cloud services, including Azure, and enterprise and partner services, including Enterprise Support Services. Its More Personal Computing segment primarily comprises Windows and Devices, including Windows OEM licensing; Gaming, including Xbox hardware and Xbox content; Search and news advertising, comprising Bing and Copilot, Microsoft News, and Microsoft Edge.
About the author

Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
- Significant User Growth: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed in an internal message that ChatGPT is experiencing over 10% monthly growth, with approximately 800 million weekly active users, demonstrating strong appeal despite fierce competition in the market.
- Product Update Plans: Altman also mentioned that OpenAI plans to release an updated chat model this week, and its AI coding tool Codex has grown by about 50% in the past week, which will further enhance its product competitiveness.
- Ad Testing Launch: OpenAI is set to begin testing ads in ChatGPT today, facing criticism from competitor Anthropic; Altman emphasized the goal of making AI accessible to a broad user base that cannot afford subscription fees.
- Market Valuation Surge: OpenAI's valuation is expected to soar above $800 billion, while Anthropic's latest funding round could elevate its valuation to $350 billion, indicating strong growth potential for both companies in the AI sector.
See More
- Significant Index Growth: The Schwab Trading Activity Index (STAX) rose by 3.05% in January to 49.96, marking its highest level since February 2025, indicating a gradual recovery in investor confidence in the market.
- Tech Stocks Lead Buying: Net buying in January was predominantly in the information technology sector, with Schwab clients purchasing popular stocks like Microsoft, Tesla, and Amazon, demonstrating the strong performance of tech stocks positively impacting the overall market.
- Divergent Sector Performance: While five S&P 500 sectors saw net inflows, consumer staples and industrials experienced the highest net outflows, indicating a clear disparity in market sentiment across different sectors, which could influence investment strategies.
- Consistent Market Outperformance: STAX has outperformed the S&P 500 in five of the last six months, highlighting the close relationship between retail investor trading behavior and market trends, potentially providing crucial insights for future investment decisions.
See More
- Significant Revenue Growth: CoreWeave's revenue skyrocketed from $16 million in 2022 to $1.9 billion in 2024, with projections of reaching $5.1 billion in 2025, showcasing its strong growth potential in the AI market.
- Data Center Expansion: The company expanded from three data centers at the end of 2022 to 33, leveraging dedicated GPUs to process AI tasks 35 times faster and 80% cheaper than larger cloud platforms, significantly enhancing its competitive edge.
- Capital Strategy: CoreWeave secured additional financing by leveraging GPUs as collateral and invested $100 million in Nvidia's H100 data center GPUs in 2022, further driving its infrastructure expansion.
- Optimistic Future Outlook: Despite risks from a 70% revenue dependency on Microsoft and potential debt increases, analysts expect its market cap to double to $98 billion by 2027, reflecting confidence in its long-term growth trajectory.
See More
- Software Sector Turmoil: The release of a new AI tool by Anthropic has led to a nearly 30% collapse in the software sector in 2025, despite the S&P 500 nearing record highs, creating uncertainty that has driven investors to sell off software stocks en masse.
- Strong Consumer Staples Performance: As of February 9, the consumer staples sector has performed exceptionally well, rising 12.7% year-to-date, which would mark its best return since 2021 if sustained, indicating a significant capital shift from software to staples.
- Investor Flight to Safety: In light of market uncertainties, investors are gravitating towards low-risk consumer staple stocks such as food and beverages, reflecting a search for safer investment options, even as the earnings outlook for these stocks has not significantly improved.
- HALO Stocks Concept: The HALO stocks, characterized by heavy assets and low obsolescence risk, are expected to benefit from advancements in AI, positioning them as a key investment theme for 2026, as highlighted by Josh.
See More
- Money Flow Trends: In the Magnificent Seven stocks, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) shows positive early money flows, indicating increased investor confidence that could drive its stock price higher.
- Market Sentiment Analysis: Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) exhibit neutral money flows, suggesting investors are taking a wait-and-see approach, which may affect their short-term performance.
- Negative Money Flows: Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet Inc Class C (NASDAQ:GOOG), NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) experience negative early money flows, reflecting diminished market confidence in these tech stocks, potentially leading to price declines.
- Gold Market Reaction: The warning from China triggers selling in the gold market (CRYPTO:BTC), prompting investors to carefully assess their positions and consider tactical adjustments based on market signals to navigate potential volatility.
See More
- Game Outcome: On February 8, 2026, Super Bowl LX saw the Seattle Seahawks defeat the New England Patriots 29-13, with 30 of the 42 total points scored in the fourth quarter, highlighting the game's intensity and enhancing the Seahawks' brand image.
- Ad Performance: According to USA Today's Ad Meter, brands like Anheuser-Busch, Lay's, and Dunkin' resonated well with viewers again this year, indicating effective emotional and comedic messaging strategies that continue to engage audiences.
- Viewer Feedback: Some ads featuring AI tools failed to win over viewers, reflecting a limited acceptance of technology-driven advertising among consumers, suggesting that companies need to reassess their advertising strategies to improve effectiveness.
- Market Impact: The Super Bowl remains a crucial platform for brand marketing, where successful ads can significantly boost brand visibility and directly influence sales performance, prompting companies to increase their advertising budgets in future campaigns.
See More











