The Motley Fool: Microsoft for the long term

The Fool’s Take

Microsoft is a ubiquitous brand in computing, and that works to its advantage in the age of artificial intelligence. Hundreds of millions of people use Microsoft Office and Windows-based software products, providing a large installed base of users to help pay back its AI investments.

Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure powers not only its enterprise cloud services but also its consumer-facing services. It has over 900 million monthly active users using AI features across its products. Microsoft 365, which includes Office, has over 400 million paid subscribers. New AI features help drive healthy demand for these software products.

Across the business, Microsoft enjoys strong momentum. Its recent quarterly revenue of $77.7 billion was an increase of 18% year over year. The company’s remaining performance obligation (expected earnings based on long-term business contracts) reached $392 billion in the recent quarter, for a year-over-year growth rate of 51%.

Microsoft’s…