Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is one of the world’s largest and most influential technology companies. It is also the most valuable publicly traded company in the world today at $3.4 trillion. In addition to providing cloud computing services, leading operating systems and productivity software, the tech giant is also at the forefront of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.
Strong earnings results and emerging opportunities in AI have helped the company’s stock perform strongly of late, with the software giant’s stock price up 34% in the past year alone.
Even more impressive, the stock has returned more than 1,160% since Satya Nadella became the company’s CEO in February 2014. That means if you had invested $1,000 on the day Nadella took over on February 4, 2014, your investment would now be worth more than $12,570.
Nadella has done wonders at Microsoft
Now that Microsoft is on a winning streak, it’s easy to forget that the company faced significant challenges when Nadella took over as CEO. A series of failed projects and unproductive strategic directions gave the company and its stock a rocky start in the 2010s. But Microsoft has pulled off an incredible turnaround.
Nadella led a pivot to a new strategy focused on subscription services. The company moved Office and other software from one-time license purchases to selling them on a subscription basis. This made the company’s sales more reliable and also helped increase margins.
He also oversaw the strategic prioritization and growth of the company’s Azure cloud infrastructure services. Azure has grown at an incredible pace over the past decade and is currently the second largest player in market share, behind only Amazonfrom AWS.
Microsoft’s cloud business is generating strong sales, growing rapidly and posting impressive profit margins. It’s also helped the company capitalize on emerging AI-driven demand, and the best is likely yet to come.
Should You Invest $1,000 in Microsoft Now?
Before you buy Microsoft stock, here are some things to consider:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor team of analysts has just identified what they think is the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Microsoft wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could deliver monster returns in the years to come.
Think about when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you had $1,000 invested at the time of our recommendation, you would have $761,658!*
Stock Advisor offers investors an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including portfolio building guidance, regular analyst updates, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor has service more than quadrupled the return of the S&P 500 since 2002*.
View the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of July 2, 2024
John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long Jan 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short Jan 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
If You Invested $1,000 In Microsoft Stock 10 Years Ago, Here’s What You’d Have Now was originally published by The Motley Fool
