Story perspectives

Microsoft Shares Jump 10% as Azure Strains Persist, Meta Slides

7/30/2026

Summary

Microsoft Shares Surge

Microsoft’s shares jumped 9.8% after the July 29 earnings.
Meta’s shares fell about 10% after the same earnings.
Microsoft reported $90 billion revenue (up 18%) and $36 billion profit (up 31%) while Azure grew 43% YoY and backlog rose 84% to $678 billion.
Meta posted $60.8 billion revenue (up 28%) but EPS fell to $6.18 and it plans 2026 AI capex of $130-$145 billion.

Summary

Microsoft warns capacity

Microsoft warned Azure capacity constraints will persist through 2026, forcing customers to choose between AI services and renting compute.
Microsoft is adding Anthropic models and expanding AI and custom chips to reduce reliance on OpenAI.
An accounting change extends data-center lease depreciation to 25 years, lowering capex while AI spending stays unchanged.
Microsoft partnered with Accenture to sell $30-a-month Copilot and with France’s Mistral to ease capacity pressure.

History

Historical Context

Microsoft launched Azure in February 2010, entering a market reshaped by Amazon’s 2012 public-cloud rollout that generated over $1.5 billion in revenue. Since AWS began bundling AI services—partnering with Anthropic in 2023—Azure now warns of capacity limits by 2026 as it races to match Amazon and Google’s AI-cloud offerings and to secure enterprise customers worldwide.

1 of 3

Microsoft Shares Surge

Microsoft’s shares jumped 9.8% after the July 29 earnings.
Meta’s shares fell about 10% after the same earnings.
Microsoft reported $90 billion revenue (up 18%) and $36 billion profit (up 31%) while Azure grew 43% YoY and backlog rose 84% to $678 billion.
Meta posted $60.8 billion revenue (up 28%) but EPS fell to $6.18 and it plans 2026 AI capex of $130-$145 billion.

1 / 3