Microsoft shares closed at a record on Tuesday for the first time in almost a year, extending a four-month rally driven by improving investor views of its artificial intelligence and cloud businesses.
The stock rose as much as 1.8% to $551.13 (R9,066) in early New York trading before closing 0.4% higher at $543.45 (R8,940), above the previous closing record of $542.07 (R8,917) set on 28 October 2025. The shares have gained more than 50% since a June low, adding roughly $1.5trn (R24.7trn) in market value and lifting the company’s valuation back above $4trn (R65.8trn).
The rally follows a sharp first-half decline. Microsoft was among the weakest performers in the S&P 500 in the first six months of the year as investors questioned the returns on heavy AI infrastructure spending and noted slower cloud growth. The stock is up about 14% this year, behind the Nasdaq-100’s 21% gain.
Microsoft share price milestones:
| Measure | Figure |
| Previous record close (28 Oct 2025) | $542.07 (R8,917) |
| Intraday high (13 Oct 2026) | $551.13 (R9,066) |
| Record close (13 Oct 2026) | $543.45 (R8,940) |
| Gain from June low | More than 50% |
| Market value added since June | About $1.5trn (R24.7trn) |
| 2026 gain vs Nasdaq-100 | About 14% vs 21% |
| Analysts rating it a buy | 68 of 72 |
A key catalyst was Microsoft’s unveiling on Monday of its third-generation Maia 300 AI accelerator. The company said the in-house chip will become its primary architecture for running AI models, reducing its long reliance on Nvidia processors. Analysts said more efficient hardware could help its Azure cloud and Foundry AI software compete with Amazon Web Services and Google for corporate AI workloads.
Analyst sentiment is largely positive. Of 72 analysts tracked by Bloomberg, 68 rate the stock a buy and none recommend selling. Barclays raised its price target to $600 (R9,870) from $512 (R8,422) on Tuesday, keeping an overweight rating. Microsoft reported revenue of about $331bn (R5.4trn) for its 2026 financial year, an increase of 18%.
The earlier sell-off erased roughly $1trn (R16.5trn) in market value over eight months. It also left legal exposure: a Michigan police and fire pension fund filed suit in June alleging that Microsoft concealed a slowdown in Azure growth ahead of large AI spending. The case is unresolved.
Microsoft has also reworked its consumer AI offering after complaints about early versions of Copilot in Windows, consolidating consumer features into a dedicated app. Its share performance this year is ahead of Amazon and Alphabet but behind Meta’s 17% gain.
Investors will look to the company’s next quarterly results for evidence that AI spending is translating into revenue growth at a pace that justifies its capital expenditure.