Microsoft stands out among the most active stocks, not for its daily trading volume but for its strong underlying business fundamentals. The company trades an average of roughly 27 million shares a day, far less than peers like Nvidia, which sees over 120 million shares traded daily. Despite this, Microsoft's AI business is growing rapidly, with an annual revenue run rate of $37 billion, up 123% year over year. The company's commercial backlog has reached $678 billion, indicating robust demand across various industries.
Microsoft's recent fiscal Q4 2026 results highlighted significant growth, with total revenue of $90 billion, up 18% year over year. The Microsoft Cloud revenue climbed 27% to $59.3 billion, while Azure, its core cloud platform, grew 43%. For the full fiscal year, Azure topped $100 billion in revenue for the first time, growing 41%, and total Microsoft Cloud revenue came in above $214 billion. These figures underscore the company's strong position in the AI and cloud markets.
The company is heavily investing in AI and cloud infrastructure, with capital expenditures and finance leases totaling $41 billion in the most recent quarter, up 69% year over year. Management guided to roughly $175 billion of capital expenditure for calendar 2026, reflecting the scale of its investment in data centers and GPUs. Despite concerns about AI spending outpacing demand, Microsoft's growing backlog and strong customer commitments suggest a solid foundation for long-term growth.
Analysts highlight that trading volume is just a measure of short-term attention, not a indicator of long-term value. Microsoft's hundreds of billions in revenue and contracted backlog make it a strong candidate for a five-year holding, despite daily market fluctuations. While the stock faced a 15% to 20% drop in 2026 due to AI spending worries, the underlying business metrics remain compelling.