Bryn Talkington, managing partner at Requisite Capital Management, told CNBC on Friday that Copilot “feels like Teams. You just don’t want to use it.” She said her firm is taking out Copilot and putting in Claude instead.
The comment lands as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella is running a “Copilot code red” internally to overhaul Copilot, ahead of the E7 suite launch on May 1.
Copilot had 6 million daily active users in March, well behind Claude’s 9 million and ChatGPT’s 440 million, according to Sensor Tower data.
Talkington still owns Microsoft but said the stock’s next move comes down to Azure.
She wants to see 38-39% year-over-year cloud growth on the April 29 earnings report and warned anything below 37% may send shares lower.
She said she still prefers Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) over Microsoft, arguing Google Cloud is likely to outperform again this quarter.
SaaS Repricing Creates An Entry Point
Kevin Simpson, founder and CEO of Capital Wealth Planning, added Microsoft on weakness this week. He noted the forward multiple has compressed from roughly 27.5x to near 21x and argued Microsoft should be among the winners if the SaaS shakeout produces clear haves and have-nots.
Bill Baruch, founder and president of Blue Line Capital, agreed. He said Microsoft has taken an “idiosyncratic punch in the face” tied to Oracle’s data center issues, OpenAI uncertainty and a broader software selloff driven by private credit unwinding. Baruch expects much of that pain has already played out and sees a brighter second half.
Microsoft shares are trading around $371, down about 24% year-to-date. Earnings are estimated at $4.07 per share on $81.37 billion in revenue.
Apple Bought On Foldable Dip
Simpson also bought Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) around $250 on Monday after a foldable phone delay rumor pushed shares lower.
He framed it as a utility and services play, saying the real catalyst is getting Siri to work, not a new device form factor. Apple traded near $260 at the time of the broadcast.
Talkington noted Apple’s CapEx is actually down about 15% year-over-year, making it one of the few mega caps showing capital discipline during the AI buildout.
Jefferies raised its price target from $286.54 to $294.91.
Simpson also trimmed Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:MPC) at $251 after a 40%-plus run from his late-November entry around $180, rotating proceeds into tech names on weakness.
The move aligns with Bank of America flow show data cited during the broadcast showing energy seeing its biggest outflow since July 2024 and its first since November.
Baruch said he likes the trim, noting the crack spread at $75 a barrel means much of the refiner upside has already been priced in.
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