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Microsoft"s market value surpassed $3 trillion for the first time, becoming only the second company to reach that after Apple. The software giant"s stock climbed more than 1.5% to $403.95 per share, bringing its total valuation to $3.004 trillion based on current share counts.
This achievement caps Microsoft"s turnaround over the past decade, led by CEO Satya Nadella"s cloud-first vision. Since Nadella took over in 2014, Microsoft has expanded its infrastructure and productivity tools like Azure, Office 365 and Dynamics 365 to tap into strong demand from businesses migrating to the cloud.
The company has also grown its presence in hot areas like AI, gaming and augmented reality. Microsoft"s intelligent cloud division, fueled by the success of Azure, has posted revenue growth of over 20% for multiple quarters running.
Microsoft"s rise coincides with its partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI. Since the chatbot"s release in November 2022, Microsoft"s stock has skyrocketed by over 60%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500 and even Apple"s own gains during the same period (via Forbes).
On the other hand, according to the figures for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2024, Microsoft"s total revenue was $56.5 billion, up 13 percent compared to the $50.1 billion in revenue recorded in the same period last year. The software giant added that its net income for the last quarter was $22.3 billion, an increase of 26 percent compared to its $17.6 billion net income a year ago.
In its Xbox division, gaming revenues were up 9 percent, and Xbox content and services revenues were up by 13 percent. However, Xbox hardware revenues were down by 7 percent. Microsoft will report its earnings next Thursday.
In other trillion-dollar club news, Meta also rejoined the group on Wednesday. The company"s shares jumped more than 3%, valuing the company at $1.006 trillion. This suggests a potential revival for the social media giant, which has faced several challenges in recent years.