Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) trading up 4.9% - Here's why. August 3, 2026 Key points. * Microsoft shares jumped 4.9% to $487.65 in heavy trading after the company reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, beating estimates and marking 17.7% year-over-year revenue growth. * Accelerating Azure growth of roughly 30%, more than $100 billion in annual cloud revenue, and a large cloud backlog strengthened investor confidence that Microsoft's AI investments are generating returns across Azure, Copilot, Microsoft 365 and cybersecurity. * Wall Street remains broadly bullish, with 42 analysts rating the stock a Buy and five a Hold; the consensus price target is $558.64, compared with Microsoft's current price near $488. * Five stocks to consider instead of Microsoft. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 4.9% during trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $491.65 and last traded at $487.65. 65,949,546 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 74% from the average session volume of 37,962,578 shares. The stock had previously closed at $464.72. Key Microsoft news. Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week: * Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, exceeding consensus estimates of $87.62 billion and $4.24, respectively. Revenue increased 17.7% year over year, reinforcing confidence in the company's growth trajectory. * Positive Sentiment: Azure growth accelerated to approximately 30%, while cloud revenue reportedly surpassed $100 billion for the fiscal year. Investors view the performance as evidence that demand for AI and cloud services is offsetting concerns about infrastructure costs. Why Microsoft Stock Is Surging Today * Positive Sentiment: A large cloud backlog - part of an estimated $2.3 trillion backlog across major technology companies - provides visibility for future sales and helps justify continued AI capital expenditures. Microsoft's data-center lease commitments reportedly exceeded $100 billion in the latest quarter. * Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators increasingly argue that Microsoft is differentiating itself from other AI stocks by monetizing AI through Azure, Microsoft 365, Copilot and cybersecurity products. Strong margins and a relatively conservative balance sheet also ease concerns about the spending cycle. Microsoft Just Proved That AI Spending Can Pay Off * Positive Sentiment: The Paychex WISE workforce-intelligence platform is now integrated with Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams, adding another business use case for Microsoft's productivity ecosystem. Paychex Brings WISE Workforce Intelligence to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams Wall Street analysts forecast growth. MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group set a $525.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. New Street Research decreased their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Finally, HSBC lowered their target price on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $558.64. Discover more Cryptocurrency News Stock Profit Calculator Financial News Subscription Microsoft Stock performance. The company has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average of $397.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $405.45. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.53 EPS for the current year. Microsoft announces dividend. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%. Insider activity at Microsoft. In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders. Institutional inflows and outflows. Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $35,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. About Microsoft. Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming. Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams). This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. Before you consider Microsoft, you'll want to hear this. 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Paychex shares have risen 14.4% in the past month, outperforming the S&P 500, following solid fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results. The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.32 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.31 and up 10.9% year over year. Total revenues reached $1.61 billion, up 12.5% from the prior year. Management Solutions revenues increased 14% to $1.18 billion, with Paycor—acquired in April 2025—contributing about 8 percentage points to growth. Professional Employer Organisation and Insurance Solutions revenues rose 9% to $369.7 million. Interest on client funds increased 15% to $52.2 million, driven by higher investment balances from the Paycor acquisition.

Paychex chairman Martin Mucci gifted 9,309 shares valued at $1.1 million to The Mucci Family Foundation on 17 July 2026, according to an SEC filing. The philanthropic transfer was not an open-market sale. Following the transaction, Mucci retains approximately 435,000 shares directly held, worth $49.75 million as of the transaction date. He also maintains a substantial number of derivative securities directly. The gift occurred after Paychex's share price declined roughly 20% over the preceding 12 months. The Rochester, New York-based company provides human capital management solutions, including payroll processing and HR services, primarily to small and medium-sized enterprises. Paychex reported trailing twelve-month revenue of $6.5 billion and net income of $1.8 billion.