By John Ballard
Publication Date: 2026-11-01 17:43:00
Microsoft (MSFT -1.55%) has long charged businesses for each worker using its software, a model known as seat-based pricing. The one reason to buy the stock for the next 10 years is that Copilot, its AI assistant, is moving from per-seat subscriptions to usage-based pricing. This could have a significant impact on Microsoft’s growth that isn’t yet priced into the stock.
MSFT Microsoft
$521.91-$8.23 (-1.55%)
NASDAQ · As of 4:00 PM ET 10/30/26
The shift to usage-based pricing will allow Microsoft to sell into a bigger market and earn more per customer. The latest numbers in the earnings report show why this is a big deal.
CEO Satya Nadella said, “The number of Copilot customers actively consuming credits through usage-based billing grew over 75% over the quarter.” Customers are increasingly using Copilot to perform higher-value work, driving daily users up fivefold year over year.
Overall, Microsoft’s revenue from agents and infrastructure (Azure, 365 cloud, productivity and server…
