Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) surged past $4 trillion in market value Thursday, becoming the second U.S. company to hit the milestone after Nvidia (NVDA.O), buoyed by strong quarterly earnings and aggressive investments in artificial intelligence.
The tech giant’s shares jumped 6.6% to $546.33 in morning trading, driven by soaring sales in its Azure cloud business and a record-setting capital expenditure forecast of $30 billion for the current quarter.
“It is in the process of becoming more of a cloud infrastructure business and a leader in enterprise AI, doing so very profitably and cash generatively despite the heavy AI capital expenditures,” said Gerrit Smit, lead portfolio manager at Stonehage Fleming Global Best Ideas Equity Fund.
Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft first broke the $1 trillion barrier in April 2019 and crossed $3 trillion earlier this year. Its climb to $4 trillion has trailed Nvidia’s rapid ascent, with the chipmaker tripling its value in a year to lead the AI revolution.
Investors continue to reward firms with strong AI narratives. Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI has supercharged its Office Suite and Azure services, helping its stock more than double since ChatGPT’s late-2022 release.
Its record capex signals a fierce race among Silicon Valley rivals, including Meta Platforms (META.O), Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), each escalating AI investments to cement their positions in the fast-evolving landscape.
Despite looming U.S. tariffs and global trade uncertainties, Wall Street remains bullish, with Microsoft’s earnings defying headwinds and propelling the broader market to new highs.