AI boost Microsoft’s revenue, stock performance

Microsoft is anticipating to see a 15.8 per cent increase in quarterly revenue, marking its highest growth in almost two years, driven by the growing use of its generative AI-enhanced products, which is boosting demand for its cloud services, Reuters reported on Monday.

Due to its pioneering efforts in artificial intelligence, Microsoft is poised to solidify its position as the largest company by market value this year.

On Friday, Tech Behemoth claimed the top spot with a $3 trillion valuation, narrowly surpassing Apple, which has been the most valuable company since 2011.

Microsoft, which has pledged over $10 billion to OpenAI, the leading figure in generative AI and creator of ChatGPT, will release results on Tuesday.

These results will shape the outlook for AI this year, following a significant investment in technology in 2023.

Analysts predict that any increase in companies’ revenues will remain modest in the coming months. However, Wall Street is keen to monitor if these investments begin to yield returns.

Over the past three months, Windows has extensively introduced its primary AI tool, Copilot, which is priced at $30 per month. This tool is part of the Microsoft 365 service and can compose emails, create presentations, and compile meeting highlights.

Microsoft’s cloud business is seeing increased growth as customers purchase computing power in preparation for using its AI services.

This has enabled Azure to gain market share in competition with Amazon’s AWS and Alphabet’s Google Cloud.

Last year, Microsoft’s shares saw a 57 per cent increase, coupled with a rise in other tech stocks like Alphabet and Nvidia, which contributed to a 24% boost in the S&P 500 in 2023.