New York, January 9, 2026, 16:12 ET — After-hours
Microsoft Corp shares gained 0.2% to $479.07 on Friday after the software maker leaned further into retail, rolling out a new Copilot checkout feature alongside other AI tools. The company is valued at about $3.85 trillion.
Timing is key: Microsoft said it will report fiscal 2026 second-quarter results after the market closes on Jan. 28, a read on demand across its cloud and AI businesses. Investors will also be listening for any change in its outlook for the rest of the fiscal year. 1
On Thursday, Microsoft rolled out “agentic AI” for retailers — software meant to handle tasks and make decisions across workflows instead of simply answering prompts — pitching it as a way to automate pieces of merchandising, marketing and fulfilment. “The retailers that thrive will be the ones that unify their business with intelligence,” said Kathleen Mitford, a corporate vice president at Microsoft. 2
Copilot’s new shopping flow drops “Buy” buttons straight into chat and can pop open a checkout screen without pushing users over to a retailer site, an approach Microsoft is rolling out on Copilot.com in the United States with select merchants. It lines the company up with other AI players also trying to make chatbots do shopping duty. 3
Wells Fargo, in a Street note carried by TheFly, lowered its price target on Microsoft to $665 from $700 while keeping an Overweight rating, signaling the bank still sees the stock beating its peers. The firm said AI remains “the name of the 2026 game.” 4
On the charts, Microsoft shares are under their 50-day moving average of $491.95 and hovering around their 200-day moving average of $479.80, levels some traders watch as near-term resistance and support. 5
The retail push is still in its early days. Some of the new “agentic” commerce features are only arriving as templates or previews, so whether merchants and shoppers actually take to them remains a big question. And any hint on Jan. 28 that AI spending is rising faster than revenue could reignite worries about near-term margins. 6
Microsoft’s next catalyst is its Jan. 28 earnings call at 2:30 p.m. Pacific time, featuring CEO Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood. Traders will be listening for any read on cloud demand, the bill for AI and whether Copilot features can convert into paid usage quickly. 7
