Summary of Microsoft 1Q26 Earnings Call Company Overview - **Company**: Microsoft (MSFT.O) - **Market Cap**: $4,043,212 million - **Stock Price (as of Oct 29, 2025)**: $541.55 - **Price Target**: Increased from $625.00 to $650.00 Key Industry Insights - **Industry**: Software - **Trends**: Strong positioning in key areas such as GenAI, Security, Digital Transformation, Cloud migrations, and Data Warehousing & Analytics - **CIO Behavior**: Increasing consolidation of IT spending with fewer vendors due to tight budgets Core Financial Highlights - **Revenue Performance**: Revenues exceeded expectations by approximately $2 billion, or nearly 3% above consensus - **Commercial Bookings Growth**: Grew 111% YoY in constant currency, driven by significant OpenAI contracts - **Current Remaining Performance Obligations (cRPO)**: Increased by 35% YoY to $157 billion, indicating strong future revenue potential - **Gross Margins**: 69.0%, 130 basis points ahead of consensus - **Operating Margins**: 48.9%, 230 basis points ahead of consensus - **Earnings Per Share (EPS)**: Reported at $3.72, beating consensus by $0.04, with a 13% YoY growth Azure Performance - **Azure Growth**: 39% YoY in constant currency, slightly below expectations of 40% - **Supply Constraints**: Azure growth limited by supply issues, with demand exceeding supply across workloads - **Future Guidance**: Azure growth expected to be around 37% in the next quarter Capital Expenditure and Future Outlook - **Capex**: Total capex of $34.9 billion in Q1, up 75% YoY, with expectations for FY26 capex growth to exceed 58% YoY, implying at least $140 billion in total capex - **Free Cash Flow**: Increased by 33% YoY to $25.7 billion despite a 30% growth in cash capex - **Q2 Revenue Guidance**: Expected between $79.5 billion and $80.6 billion, in line with consensus Risks and Considerations - **OpenAI Losses**: Significant losses attributed to OpenAI, totaling over $4 billion in the quarter, impacting EPS - **Investor Sentiment**: After-hours stock price pulled back ~4% due to concerns over Azure growth and OpenAI losses Conclusion - **Investment Thesis**: Microsoft shows strong demand trends, expanding operating margins, and a solid position in the software industry, particularly in AI and cloud services - **Recommendation**: Remains a top pick with aggressive buying suggested on pullbacks, as the durability of earnings growth and AI leadership are not fully priced in [1][3][10][18][24]

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