Microsoft $MSFT added nearly $450 billion in market capitalization on Thursday, the largest single-day gain by any company in U.S. history, after its earnings report showed cloud growth accelerating and its capital spending plans remained unchanged.
Microsoft stock surged 16% on Thursday after the company forecast Azure cloud growth well above analyst expectations
Bloomberg / Getty Images
Microsoft $MSFT added nearly $450 billion in market capitalization on Thursday, the largest single-day gain by any company in U.S. history, after its earnings report showed cloud growth accelerating and its capital spending plans remained unchanged.
Microsoft shares finished the day up more than 15%, bringing the company's total market capitalization to $3.35 trillion. The move surpassed Nvidia $NVDA's previous record one-day gain of $441 billion, set on April 9, 2025, according to Reuters, citing LSEG data.
Revenue from Microsoft's Azure cloud unit grew 43% in the fiscal fourth quarter, the unit's strongest growth since early 2022, according to Bloomberg. For its next fiscal quarter, the company said it expects Azure to grow 45% on a constant-currency basis. That figure exceeded analyst expectations of roughly 41% growth, according to Reuters, citing Visible Alpha data.
Microsoft also said its capital expenditure plans for the 2026 calendar year are unchanged at $175 billion, with $50 billion planned for the fiscal first quarter of 2027, the company said.
The results eased investor concern that Microsoft's spending on data centers and computing infrastructure would outpace its ability to generate revenue. Free cash flow for the quarter totaled $19.6 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"Microsoft reported a very strong quarter and it struck the tone markets are looking to hear as the key drivers of growth came from the cloud and AI divisions," Brian Mulberry, chief market strategist at Zacks Investment Management, said.
Coming into Thursday's session, Microsoft shares had shed more than 18% since the start of the year, underperforming several of its fellow Magnificent Seven technology giants. At least nine brokerages raised their price targets on the stock following Thursday's results, with the mean target now $560.90.
Thursday's gains carried broad market implications. Among the major indexes, the Nasdaq $NDAQ Composite led the rebound with a 2.8% advance, the S&P 500 added 1.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 1.2%, or 614 points — of which Microsoft accounted for around 360, according to The Wall Street Journal. Chip stocks including Nvidia and Broadcom $AVGO also advanced, along with Oracle $ORCL, whose stock rose 8.3%.
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