Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss said Microsoft's (MSFT) Public Cloud offering is differentiated from those of cloud giants Amazon (AMZN) and Google (GOOGL) as it spans from core Infrastructure Services to Platform-as-a-Service capabilities and up the stack to the application layer. This combination of Public Cloud assets paired with Microsoft's large existing customer base, developer base, expansive distribution channel, and strong on-premise technology will likely drive continuing share gains over the next three years, contends Weiss. The analyst, who thinks Microsoft looks poised to maintain a dominant position in a public cloud market, also now forecasts improving gross and operating margins for the company over the next three years. Given all of this, Weiss called Microsoft his top pick, increased his price target on the shares to $130 from $110, and noted that he sees the company having a path to $50B in EBIT and a $1 trillion market cap.

Craig-Hallum lowered the firm's price target on Edgio (EGIO) to $10 from $30 and keeps a Hold rating on the shares. The analyst sates some of the recent run-up in the stock has been due to "buzz from a few promoters" that Edgio is an "edge" play, an artificial intelligence play, and about to benefit from a new reseller relationship with Microsoft (MSFT). The firm does not agree with any of those. At its core, Edgio is a streaming centric content delivery network, with improving plays on security and app development / deployment, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Hallum believes that while the company can claim technical leadership in these areas, converting any of these products to sustained revenue growth and free cash flow generation "has been and likely remains hard to come by."

Amazon (AMZN) has renewed its latest hit Prime Video series "Fallout" for a second season, Variety's Joe Otterson reports. The news comes after Variety previously reported that a second season was slated to receive $25M in tax credits by shooting in the state of California. The "Fallout" franchise is published by Bethesda, which Microsoft (MSFT) acquired in 2021. Reference Link

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Sales of video games in Bethesda's "Fallout" series have surged across Europe, with 2015's "Fallout 4" reclaiming the top spot, Gamesindustry.biz's Christopher Dring reports. Sales of "Fallout 4" jumped 7,500% week-on-week across Europe, due to some heavy discounting on games in the "Fallout" franchise across all platforms designed to tie-in with Amazon Prime's (AMZN) "Fallout" television series, Dring says, citing GSD data. 2018's "Fallout 76," 2010's "Fallout: New Vegas," and 2008's "Fallout 3" rounded out Europe's weekly top ten as well, Dring says. The Fly notes that Microsoft (MSFT) acquired Bethesda in 2021. Reference Link

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Big River Services International sells around $1M a year in goods in e-commerce marketplaces and is an arm of Amazon that gathers intelligence on the company's competitors, Dana Mattioli and Sarah Nassauer of The Wall Street Journal reports. Big River uses its sales across multiple countries to gather pricing data, logistics, and other details about rival marketplaces, people familiar with the matter told the Journal. Reference Link

Microsoft's Activision is dropping team entry fees for its professional Call of Duty League, and will return prior collected fees, as the esports industry faces profit challenges, Bloomberg's Cecilia D'Anastasio reports. A lawsuit this year from a former owner identified the fees as $27.5M per franchise. Activision is also offering the teams two-year minimum revenue guarantees, according to the report. Reference Link