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Investing.com -- Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock fell 1.6% Wednesday morning, recovering from an earlier 3% decline, after the company denied a report claiming it had reduced sales quotas for its AI software products.
The tech giant issued an emailed statement in response to an article published by The Information, explicitly stating, "We did not lower AI sales quotas," according to CNBC.
The original report had claimed Microsoft lowered expectations for monetizing its newer AI products, known as "agents," which are designed to automate multi-step tasks. The Information had suggested multiple Microsoft divisions reduced sales growth targets for certain AI products after salespeople missed goals in the fiscal year ending in June.
The publication had characterized such an adjustment as unusual for Microsoft, potentially indicating challenges in convincing customers to increase spending on AI technologies amid resistance to premium pricing for these solutions.
Following Microsoft’s denial, the broader market impact appeared to moderate. The Nasdaq 100, which had declined 0.6% in pre-market trading, recovered to trade flat by mid-morning.
Microsoft had previously positioned 2025 as a breakthrough year for AI capabilities that could automate complex tasks, such as generating dashboards from company sales data.