Evercore Plays Down Microsoft 365 Disruption Fears After Anthropic's Claude Sheets Launch – 'Not Yet A Substitute For Excel'

What happened

Anthropic launched Claude Sheets and Whiteboards in beta and made Claude Data available to paid subscribers. Evercore said Claude Sheets is not yet a substitute for Excel, maintained its Outperform rating on Microsoft, and set a $635 price target, which the article says implies 22% upside.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

The tools could challenge Microsoft in specific work tasks by helping users create spreadsheets and plan collaboratively. Evercore argues that replacing those tasks is different from replacing Microsoft 365, because Microsoft’s enterprise software and infrastructure support the applications companies use.

Analyst inference

The article reports investor concern about competition after Anthropic’s launch, while Evercore sees Microsoft’s underlying business as harder to displace than individual applications. It also says Microsoft shares were down 2.6% at the time of writing, without attributing that move solely to the launch.

Analyst inference

What to watch

1. Watch whether Claude Sheets and Whiteboards move beyond beta and attract wider use; the article gives no adoption figures or timetable for a full release. Analyst inference
2. Look for signs that businesses replace Excel or other Microsoft 365 applications, rather than use Claude only for individual tasks, as that would test Evercore’s distinction. Analyst inference
3. Evercore maintained its Outperform rating and $635 target, described as 22% upside; any later change in either would show a revised firm view. Confirmed

Evidence

• stocktwits.com