By Vasundhara Sawalka
Publication Date: 2026-02-05 15:54:00
Microsoft MSFT shares have experienced significant turbulence following the company’s second-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings release on Jan. 28, losing approximately 14% from their pre-earnings levels. Despite beating both revenue and earnings estimates, with non-GAAP earnings per share of $4.14 surpassing expectations and revenue reaching $81.3 billion, representing 17% year-over-year growth, the stock faced immediate selling pressure.
The disconnect between strong operational performance and negative market reaction reflects growing investor scrutiny over capital expenditure intensity and the timeline for artificial intelligence infrastructure investments to generate meaningful returns.
The cloud infrastructure segment remains Microsoft’s primary growth engine, though mixed signals emerged from the quarterly results. Azure and other cloud services grew 39% in constant currency during the quarter, a modest deceleration from the 40% growth achieved in the fiscal first…
