Online Reporter
Microsoft Corp is set to become the second company in the world to reach a $4 trillion market capitalisation after reporting quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street’s expectations, sending the stock soaring in extended trading Wednesday.
Shares of the technology behemoth jumped as much as 9 percent to more than $560 in late New York trading, and if even a portion of the gain holds through Thursday’s market open, Microsoft will reach a market value of $4 trillion. Nvidia Corp became the first company to hit the milestone earlier this month.
“Microsoft is getting the recognition that it deserves because it is the operating system for business. All of us run our businesses on Microsoft with Word, with Outlook, with Excel,” said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners LLC.
“This quarter’s results point to an even better position for Microsoft because, like Nvidia, there appear to be no substitutes.”
The company’s latest results confirmed that it’s a leader in the artificial intelligence boom that’s lifted megacap tech stocks, and the broader market, for the last few years. Microsoft reported better-than-expected growth in its cloud business, and its closely-watched Azure cloud-computing unit posted a 39 percent rise in sales, handily beating the 34 percent analysts expected.
On a call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said Microsoft expects fiscal first quarter capital expenditures at more than $30 billion, and full year revenue growth in the double digits. In addition, Azure is expected to post a 37 percent growth rate in the first quarter, above forecasts.
The stock is the second-best performer among the so-called Magnificent Seven mega tech stocks this year. Since its April 8 trough when President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff threats spurred a broader market selloff, the stock has surged nearly 45 percent to close just shy of a record high ahead of its Wednesday earnings report. —
Peter Tanyanyiwa