Shares of the technology behemoth jumped as much as 9 per cent to more than US$560 in late New York trading, and if even a portion of the gain holds through Thursday’s market open, Microsoft will reach a market value of US$4 trillion.
“Microsoft is getting the recognition that it deserves because it is the operating system for business. All of us run our businesses on Microsoft with Word, with Outlook, with Excel,” said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.
“This quarter’s results point to an even better position for Microsoft because, like Nvidia, there appear to be no substitutes.”
The company’s latest results confirm that it is a leader in the artificial intelligence boom that has lifted megacap tech stocks, and the broader market, for the last few years.