Microsoft vs Palantir: Two AI Plays, One Winner

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT | MSFT Price Prediction) and Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR) both delivered AI-fueled earnings beats this season, yet the businesses behind those tickers operate at completely different altitudes. Microsoft is the hyperscaler renting out the picks and shovels.

Palantir is the operating layer that sits on top of enterprise and government data. Comparing them right now exposes how Wall Street is pricing two very different bets on the same theme.

Azure Carries Microsoft. U.S. Commercial Carries Palantir.

Microsoft’s Q3 FY26 report showed Intelligent Cloud revenue of $34.681 billion, up 30%, with Azure growing 40%. The headline number that mattered: an AI business at a $37 billion annual run rate, up 123%. Commercial remaining performance obligations sit at $627 billion, nearly double a year ago. That is a real demand backlog with contractual visibility.

Palantir’s Q4 FY25 was a smaller, hotter…