By Geoffrey Seiler
Publication Date: 2025-12-09 10:30:00
Both Amazon and Microsoft should perform well in 2026, but one has the bigger opportunity.
Cloud computing has recently been one of the hottest areas of tech, with companies in the space pouring tons of money into capital expenditures (capex) to build out artificial intelligence (AI) data centers to try to keep up with demand. The two largest cloud computing companies by market share, Amazon (AMZN 1.24%) and Microsoft (MSFT +1.48%), have both seen strong growth, although Microsoft’s has been stronger, which has helped its stock outperform Amazon’s.
As we move into 2026, let’s look at which is set to outpace the other next year.
Image source: Getty Images
The case for Amazon
While Amazon is best known as an e-commerce giant, its most profitable segment is actually its cloud computing unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS). The company created the entire infrastructure-as-a-service industry nearly two decades ago to help customers scale up their computing without the high cost of building…
