3 Reasons Microsoft Stock Soared After Q4 Earnings
Microsoft (MSFT) just reported the quarter investors wanted to see. While investors punished Meta (META) for its disappointing Q2, they celebrated Microsoft’s results. MSFT stock closed 15.51% higher Thursday, even though it is down 4% year-to-date (YTD). Microsoft delivered accelerating AI demand, exceptional financial strength despite high spending, and growing evidence that its massive AI investments…
Microsoft (MSFT) just reported the quarter investors wanted to see. While investors punished Meta (META) for its disappointing Q2, they celebrated Microsoft’s results. MSFT stock closed 15.51% higher Thursday, even though it is down 4% year-to-date (YTD). Microsoft delivered accelerating AI demand, exceptional financial strength despite high spending, and growing evidence that its massive AI investments are already translating into higher profits.
Here are the three biggest reasons investors rushed to buy MSFT stock.
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1. Azure Keeps Defying Expectations
The highlight of the fiscal fourth quarter was Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing segment. Azure reported 43% year-over-year (YoY) growth in revenue, way ahead of expectations. Microsoft cloud revenue topped $214 billion in fiscal 2026, up 27% YoY, while Azure’s yearly revenue surpassed $100 billion after expanding 41% in the fiscal year. Meanwhile, AI Foundry now serves 100,000 clients, and revenue has more than doubled YoY, as enterprises increasingly rely on Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure to run AI applications at scale.
Management stated that demand is so high that customers are still asking for more AI computing power than Microsoft can currently provide. To solve this problem, Microsoft expanded its AI infrastructure at an extraordinary pace in the quarter. The company added 31 new data centers across five continents, bringing an additional gigawatt of capacity online. Even then, customer demand continued to exceed available capacity. However, the good news is that any additional capacity that became available during the quarter was rapidly monetized.
While many companies are investing heavily in AI and waiting for demand to eventually catch up, Microsoft is doing the opposite. It is racing to build enough infrastructure because customers are already lining up to use it. Management now expects Azure revenue to grow 45% YoY in the first quarter of fiscal 2027. This is precisely the kind of update that investors expected from a legacy tech giant like Microsoft.
2. Microsoft’s Cash Machine Continues to Fund Its AI Spending
Microsoft spent an astonishing $41 billion on capital expenditures in Q4. Management expects fiscal 2027 capital expenditures to rise further as demand remains very strong. But Microsoft’s financial position allows it to make those investments without putting pressure on its balance sheet.
Despite the substantial investment, operating cash flow climbed 30% YoY to $55.4 billion, reflecting strong cloud billings and collections across the business. The company also generated a massive $19.6 billion in free cash flow, a metric that excites investors. The company also returned $10.2 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. With this enormous FCF, it can continue to build AI infrastructure, invest in next-generation CPUs and data centers, repurchase shares, pay dividends, and retain one of the most robust balance sheets.
3. Microsoft Is Turning AI Into Profits
The main reason investors have been dumping AI stocks is that heavy investments haven’t been generating enough profits. However, Microsoft is doing both. Not only did its Q4 revenue climb by 18% to $90 billion, but it also reported a 23% YoY increase in adjusted earnings per share to $4.74, beating the consensus forecast for both. Across its software portfolio, AI has become an important revenue driver. Microsoft 365 Copilot’s user base grew to more than 30 million seats as net seat additions more than doubled sequentially. GitHub Copilot also now serves 50 million users. Following Microsoft’s switch toward usage-based pricing, Copilot revenue accelerated by more than 60% sequentially.
Its core business also remains healthy. Productivity and Business Processes revenue increased 14%, while Intelligent Cloud revenue surged 32%, owing mostly to Azure’s sustained growth. Although More Personal Computing revenue fell 4%, Microsoft’s future story is largely tied to AI and cloud computing rather than traditional PCs. This is why the market rewarded Microsoft stock, as very few companies can spend $41 billion on future growth while simultaneously generating $20 billion in FCF and growing profits double digits and still return billions to shareholders. This financial strength is undoubtedly why investors are comfortable with Microsoft’s aggressive AI investment strategy.
Analysts expect Microsoft’s earnings to increase by 12.9% to $19.51 per share in fiscal 2027, followed by another 18% increase in fiscal 2028. Despite another strong quarter and an upbeat outlook, Microsoft is trading at a discount at 20x forward earnings, making it a great time to grab this great AI stock.
On Wall Street, MSFT stock remains a consensus “Strong Buy.” Of the 51 analysts covering the stock, 42 rate it a “Strong Buy,” five say it is a “Moderate Buy,” and four rate it a “Hold.” Wall Street expects MSFT to climb by 20% from current levels if it hits its mean target price of $544.31. Plus, its high price estimate of $680 implies the stock has an upside potential of 51% over current levels.
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On the date of publication, Sushree Mohanty did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com
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