By Khac Phu Nguyen
Publication Date: 2026-08-21 20:09:00
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), the enterprise-software, cloud and artificial-intelligence heavyweight, rose approximately 0.5% to $483.56 Friday afternoon as mega-cap technology stocks clawed back ground. The rebound was hardly explosive. The 30-year Treasury yield remained near a 19-year high, forcing investors to demand more from companies priced for years of future growth.
Microsoft is delivering. Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue surged 18% to $90 billion, Azure revenue rocketed 43% and commercial remaining performance obligations exploded 84% to $678 billion. Free cash flow hit $19.6 billion and beat expectations, but it still dropped 23% year over year. The AI machine is growing fast. It is also devouring cash.
That $678 billion backlog is Microsoft’s weapon. The company already has the demand; now it must build…
