Azure and other cloud services
Grew 43% in the June 2026 quarter and 41% for fiscal 2026. Management guides about 45% constant-currency growth for the September quarter and says it is still capacity-constrained.
The numbers
What it is
Microsoft's public cloud: compute, storage, databases and AI model hosting (Foundry), sold mostly on consumption and reserved capacity. It is the largest growth driver inside Intelligent Cloud.
Why it matters to the stock. The main reason the stock is valued as an AI story. Growth rates are reported by quarter, and management guides the next quarter's constant-currency rate on the call.
News
Goldman Sachs adds Microsoft to US Conviction List, keeps $640 target
Goldman Sachs added Microsoft to its U.S.
Microsoft shares jump as much as 17%, biggest one-day gain since 2008, on fiscal Q4 results
Microsoft shares rose as much as 17% on July 30, 2026, to above $455, adding about $483 billion of market value intraday, after fiscal Q4 2026 results beat consensus.
Anthropic Claude models become generally available in Microsoft Foundry on Azure
Claude models from Anthropic became generally available in Microsoft Foundry, hosted on Azure infrastructure built on NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 systems, according to coverage dated June 30, 2026.
Foundry agents can publish to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams, now GA
Microsoft's Foundry blog says the ability to publish agents built in Foundry to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams reached general availability on June 10, 2026, as promised at Build.
Microsoft Foundry adds Toolboxes, Routines and memory updates after Build
At Build (June 2 to 3, 2026), Microsoft Foundry added agent tooling in preview: Toolboxes covering skills, Work IQ, Fabric IQ, browser automation and tool search, plus Routines for scheduled, triggered and on-demand agent runs.
Hood guides calendar 2026 capex to about $190B and Azure to accelerate in H2
On the April 29 fiscal Q3 call, CFO Amy Hood said Microsoft expects to invest roughly $190 billion in capital expenditures for calendar 2026, including about $25 billion from higher component pricing.
Stifel downgrades Microsoft to Hold and cuts target to $392 from $540
Stifel moved Microsoft to Hold from Buy on February 5, 2026 and cut its price target to $392 from $540, a reduction of nearly 27%.
Microsoft shares fall about 12% after earnings, worst session since March 2020
Microsoft shares fell about 12% at midday on January 29, 2026, the day after fiscal Q2 results beat on revenue and EPS.