Microsoft’s quarterly earnings exceeded Wall Street expectations, sending its share price soaring in after-hours trading on Wednesday and putting it on track to become the second company in the world to reach a market value of $4 trillion.
The shares of this tech giant rose as much as 9% in late trading in New York to above $560. Even if some of the gains hold through Thursday’s opening, Microsoft’s market value will reach $4 trillion. Nvidia Corp. became the first company to reach this milestone earlier this month.
Kim Forrest, chief investment officer of Bokeh Capital Partners LLC, said: “Microsoft is getting the recognition it deserves as the enterprise operating system. We all run our businesses on the Microsoft platform, using Word, Outlook and Excel. This quarter’s results show that Microsoft’s position is even more solid, as it seems there is no alternative to it, just like Nvidia.”
The company’s latest results confirm its leading position in the artificial intelligence boom, which has lifted large-cap tech stocks and the broader market over the past few years. Microsoft reported that its cloud business grew better than expected, with sales at its closely watched Azure cloud computing division rising 39%, far exceeding analysts’ expectations of 34%.
Microsoft’s Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said in a conference call with analysts that the company expects capital expenditures to exceed $30 billion in the first fiscal quarter and full-year revenue to grow by double digits. Additionally, Azure is projected to achieve a growth rate of 37% in the first quarter, which is higher than expected.
This stock is the second-best performer among the “Big Seven” tech giants this year. Since April 8, when President Donald Trump’s full-scale threat of tariffs triggered a broad sell-off, the stock has soared nearly 45% and closed just below its all-time high on Wednesday before the earnings report.
Microsoft’s stock price has rebounded this year. However, due to growing concerns among investors about its position in artificial intelligence and the growth of Azure, the company underperformed its peers in the first quarter of 2024 and 2025, being the only one among the seven giants to report a loss during that period.
According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Wall Street is generally bullish on Microsoft’s stock. Among the 72 analysts tracking the company, 65 have given it a “buy” rating and only one has given it a “sell” rating. Microsoft’s 12-month average target price is $554, which implies that the stock could rise by about 8% from Wednesday’s closing price.
