Could Microsoft pip Apple to the coveted $1tn price tag?

Morgan Stanley analyst sends Microsoft's share price up almost nine per cent

Microsoft could be on course to beat Apple, Amazon and Google and become the world's first $1tn company, according to Morgan Stanley.

Morgan Stanley analysts are backing Microsoft to hit a 13-figure valuation within a year, as a result of the growth in its public cloud business.

In a note to clients, reported by CNBC, Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss told clients: "Strong positioning for ramping public cloud adoption, large distribution channels and installed customer base, and improving margins support a path to $50bn in EBIT and a $1tn market cap for [Microsoft]."

The note sent Wall Street into overdrive, with Microsoft's share price up almost nine per cent when the market opened this morning, compared with the end of last week.

Microsoft currently has a market capitalisation of $728.86bn, behind Google's parent company Alphabet ($733.67bn) Amazon ($757.86bn) and Apple ($884.68bn).

Weiss said he'd increased Microsoft's 12-month share price target to $130, up over $40 on the price shares were trading at last week, which would give Microsoft the $1tn valuation.

"With public cloud adoption expected to grow from 21 per cent of workloads today to 44 per cent in the next three years, Microsoft looks poised to maintain a dominant position in a public cloud market we expect to more than double in size to more than $250bn," he added.

Microsoft's share price has rocketed over 150 per cent since CEO Satya Nadella (pictured) took over in 2014 and repositioned the company for an assault on the AWS-dominated public cloud market.