By Micah Zimmerman
Publication Date: 2026-08-12 10:00:00
For the last five years, I’ve been the person rolling my eyes at Microsoft‘s (MSFT -2.26%) valuation and calling it priced for perfection. Today, after its latest set of numbers and the way the company has embedded itself into AI, cloud, and everyday work, I’m finally willing to say it: At these levels, Microsoft is an easy buy for a long‑term investor.
Back in the 2021 to 2022 time frame, my skepticism sounded reasonable. Microsoft was trading at a rich multiple compared with its own history, and it felt like everyone already knew the bull case: dominant Windows, sticky Office, and fast‑growing Azure. I kept waiting for growth to slow or margins to crack.
Instead, 2026 gave a very different picture. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, Microsoft’s revenue climbed 18% to more than $331 billion, while operating income rose 21% to more than $155 billion. Net income hit $133.7 billion, with full‑year EPS growth comfortably above 20% even after stripping out gains from OpenAI…