Microsoft spent more than $115 billion on capital expenditures in fiscal 2026, and the article asks whether that spending will turn into Azure growth fast enough to justify it. Azure grew 43% last quarter, commercial backlog reached $678 billion, and management guided to about 45% Azure growth in constant currency for fiscal Q1. Fiscal Q4 revenue was $90.01 billion and EPS $4.74, including a $3.2 billion gain on the Anthropic investment, but free cash flow fell 23.19% to $19.64 billion and Q1 capex is expected to exceed $50 billion. Shares trade near $537.53, up 11.85% year to date and roughly 2.5% below their 52-week high of $551.15. 24/7 Wall St. sets a price target of $645.75 with a buy rating, while its bull case is $750.55 and bear case $546.13.
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Related tickers and likely impact
MSFT
• NeutralMicrosoft
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Information Technology |
| Industry | Systems Software |
| Market cap | $4.0T |
| Close on 10/16/2026 | 528.95 |
| Change that session | -1.94% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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