Microsoft's AI spending is producing faster growth with better economics: Azure accelerated to 48% on a $100B+ base while capex was $39.4B, below expectations. Management then guided Azure to 49-50% and said demand still exceeds supply, ending the debate over whether AI investment is paying off. Overweight, $625 target. x.com  x.com  x.com 

Microsoft's faster Azure growth on less capital spending than feared is the mix investors wanted from Big Tech. Azure brought in $33.2 billion last quarter, up 48%, its third consecutive quarter of accelerating growth; capex was $45.2 billion versus $50.8 billion expected. x.com 

Microsoft is a great business but still an expensive bet at $385, because heavy AI capex is eroding free cash flow. Capex was revised to $190B for the year, $43B above expectations, and free cash flow fell to $15.8B. Revenue grew 18% to $82.9B, operating income 20%, Azure 40% and AI run rate reached $37B, with a 47% operating margin. The average analyst target of $560 implies 45% upside only if the AI spending converts on schedule. x.com 

Microsoft's latest earnings showed accelerating Azure growth with broad demand beyond frontier AI labs, capex discipline and Copilot turning the corner. Azure grew 43%, guided to 45%, with nearly 90% of $214 billion cloud revenue from customers outside frontier labs and RPO up 84% to $678 billion. It held capex while squeezing more from existing infrastructure, and can slow chip purchases if demand cools. Copilot passed 30 million paid seats, with revenue up over 60% quarter over quarter. x.com 

Microsoft's 50% Azure growth and prospect of positive cash flow in 2027 make the stock look bulletproof. Headcount cuts, lower Anthropic spend, a better Copilot routed to cheaper tokens, and coming proprietary chips and model usage add to the case. It should get Apple's multiple plus recognition for cybersecurity. x.com  x.com 

Microsoft's revenue dependence on OpenAI is a negative, though not as bad as expected. Of Azure's more than $100B of fiscal 2026 revenue, $24B came from OpenAI. Replying to @sv_techie, who heard 70% of Microsoft's AI revenue comes from OpenAI: it is unclear how AI revenue is quantified, but the Azure figure is solid. x.com  x.com 

Microsoft's Copilot could win in enterprise AI long term because it runs natively in Microsoft 365, where enterprise work already happens, with only about 30 million of some 450 million paid M365 seats on it so far. Microsoft guided above consensus, and Azure growth improved from 39% to 43%, with 45% guided. Value is shifting from models to infrastructure like public clouds. OpenAI, 27% owned by Microsoft, is the biggest concern, which is partly why Microsoft is exploring open-source models. … Show more

Microsoft's salesforce and governed platform unlock AI spending at conservative firms. Faster enterprise than consumer AI adoption makes it effectively the only pure play. M365 Commercial may top 20% growth next quarter, sooner than expected on tonight's guide; GitHub resegmentation helps, but it should do so this year anyway. Azure and M365, two-thirds of revenue, should grow above 50% and 20% and may accelerate. $24-25 CY27 EPS remains achievable, implying under 22x forward earnings. x.com  … Show more

Microsoft's insatiable-demand story now hinges on OpenAI growing revenue into commitments it may not be able to fund. OpenAI's compute commitments have risen to $750B through 2030 from $600B, including $250B more for Azure, which its own CFO has privately doubted it can fund. That gap is now the real risk. x.com 

Google Cloud's accelerating growth positions it to lead the AI cloud market, strengthening Alphabet beyond Search. It may pass Azure next quarter, then AWS, rising from #3 to #1 in 18-24 months. Selling its Anthropic stake could fund 12-18 months of capex and buybacks, but moving roughly $300B at market price without harming their TPU and Cloud partnership is unlikely. Alphabet is cheaper than Anthropic on sales or earnings multiples; the market likely expects a 2027 capital raise. x.com  x.com  … Show more