Microsoft has added nearly $450 billion to its market value on Thursday, setting a new record for the largest single-day gain by any publicly traded company after reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and issuing an upbeat outlook for its Azure cloud business.
The technology giant’s shares surged more than 15% at the close of trading, lifting its market capitalisation to approximately $3.35 trillion and eclipsing Nvidia’s previous record one-day market value gain of $441 billion, set on April 9, 2025, according to Reuters, citing LSEG data.
The rally followed Microsoft’s better-than-expected financial results, which highlighted strong performance across its cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) businesses. The company also projected robust growth for Azure and signalled continued strong cash generation, helping to reassure investors that its massive investments in AI infrastructure are beginning to pay off.
Investor concerns had mounted in recent months over whether Microsoft’s heavy spending on AI data centres and cloud infrastructure would generate sufficient returns. Thursday’s earnings, however, eased those fears, with cloud and AI operations emerging as the company’s primary growth drivers.
Microsoft forecast Azure revenue growth of 45% on a constant-currency basis for the first quarter of its 2027 fiscal year, comfortably ahead of the 40.92% growth analysts had expected, according to Visible Alpha data. The outlook suggested that demand for AI-powered cloud services continues to accelerate.
The company also maintained its capital expenditure plans, projecting spending of $50 billion during the first quarter of fiscal 2027 and approximately $175 billion for the full 2026 calendar year, underscoring its commitment to expanding AI infrastructure.
Following the earnings release, at least nine brokerages raised their price targets for Microsoft’s stock, with the average target increasing to $560.90, according to Reuters.
The market reaction marked a significant turnaround for Microsoft, whose shares had been among the weakest performers within the so-called “Magnificent Seven” technology stocks this year. Before Thursday’s rally, the company’s stock had fallen more than 18% in 2026.
The latest results are being viewed as the strongest validation yet of Microsoft’s long-term AI strategy.
The company has invested heavily in artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure since forming its partnership with OpenAI in 2019, significantly accelerating those investments following the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022.
Earlier, Microsoft committed a record $30 billion towards AI-powered cloud expansion during the third quarter of 2025, a move that attracted scrutiny from analysts who questioned whether customer demand would keep pace with the scale of spending.
More recently, Microsoft announced plans to cut about 2.1% of its global workforce even as it continued to increase AI-related capital expenditure, drawing criticism from some industry observers. The latest earnings, however, indicate those investments are beginning to deliver the financial returns the company had anticipated.
Beyond cloud infrastructure, Microsoft is also expanding its enterprise AI offerings.
Earlier this month, the company unveiled the Microsoft Frontier Company, a new business supported by $2.5 billion in funding to help large organisations identify, deploy and integrate AI technologies from multiple providers.
The initiative will initially serve companies including Unilever and Novo Nordisk, providing AI solutions tailored to their business needs while helping them achieve measurable returns on investment.
Boluwatife Enome
