Shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) rose more than 3% on Thursday, as analysts defended the popular tech stock after its post-earnings decline, and investors grew increasingly excited about its artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives. Microsoft suffered a bit of a stock price swoon early on Wednesday despite delivering a relatively solid earnings performance, driven by strong gains in its cloud revenue. Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin, in turn, believes that Microsoft's growth may have already bottomed.