Shares of (NASDAQ: MSFT) are up 61% over the last 12 months, putting them close to a new all-time high. The software leader is expected to benefit tremendously over the next several years from the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

DA Davidson analyst Gil Luria recently maintained a buy rating on the stock with a $500 price target -- that's 22% higher than the current share price of $408. There was a key theme from last quarter's earnings report that explains why Wall Street analysts across the board are bullish on Microsoft's future.

Microsoft isn't just talking about AI, they are implementing across the business and monetizing it. This was the key theme from the company's December-ending fiscal second quarter, in which revenue grew 18% year over year (16% on a constant-currency basis).

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Source Fool.com