Microsoft joins $4T market-cap club after blowout earnings

Group 1 - Microsoft surpassed $4 trillion in market valuation, becoming the second publicly traded company to achieve this milestone after Nvidia [1] - The company forecasted a record $30 billion in capital spending for the first quarter of the current fiscal year to address increasing AI demand and reported strong sales in its Azure cloud computing business [1][7] - Microsoft's stock price increased by 4.5% to $536.47 following the earnings report [1] Group 2 - The company is transitioning to a cloud infrastructure business and a leader in enterprise AI, generating profits despite significant AI capital expenditures [2] - Microsoft's valuation growth to $3 trillion was more gradual compared to Nvidia and Apple, with Nvidia reaching $4 trillion first [3] - The company's investment in OpenAI has significantly enhanced its Office Suite and Azure offerings, contributing to a doubling of its stock value since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 [4] Group 3 - Meta Platforms is also increasing its AI investments, forecasting third-quarter revenue that exceeded Wall Street estimates, indicating a competitive race in AI among tech companies [5] - Wall Street's confidence in Microsoft has surged following consecutive record revenues since September 2022 [6] - The company's stock rally was supported by workforce reductions and increased AI investments, showing resilience against potential impacts from US tariffs [8]