The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price is pushing higher on Monday.
At the time of writing, the cloud-based accounting and business platform provider's shares are up 2% to $132.80.
This latest gain means the Xero share price is now up over 52% since this time last year.
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Why is the Xero share price rising today?
Today's gain in the Xero share price appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Morgan Stanley this morning.
According to the note, the broker has retained overweight rating and lifted its price target by 1.5% to $137.00.
What did Morgan Stanley say?
The note reveals that Morgan Stanley has been looking at the results of its arch rival Intuit.
It believes Intuit's third quarter update points to a quicker than anticipated recovery in the global market for accounting software. It feels this bodes well for Xero.
This is particularly case given that Intuit's update showed that there was strong growth in the take-up of additional products and services such as payroll and payments. It appears optimistic Xero is benefiting in this way also.
Morgan Stanley notes that Xero has been busy adding to its offering over the last 12 months with the bolt-on acquisitions of Planday, Tickstar, and Waddle. These have expanded its capabilities into accounting-adjacent services.
What else has been happening?
Morgan Stanley isn't the only broker that has been looking at Intuit's result and the implications it could have for Xero.
According to a note out of Citi on Friday, based on management commentary, its analysts suspect that Xero could be outperforming Intuit's Quickbooks offering in the UK market.
However, it isn't enough for the broker to change its rating. It continues to believe the Xero share price is fairly priced and has held firm with its neutral rating and $136.00 price target.
