NEW YORK, May 31, 2026, 07:48 (EDT)
- Microsoft finished Friday at $450.24, climbing 5.45% on the day. The stock gained roughly 7.6% from its May 22 close in the shortened week.
- Nasdaq is closed Sunday. U.S. equity markets were also shut May 25 for Memorial Day.
- Investors look ahead to Microsoft Build set for June 2-3, as well as the next steps for the AI trade.
Microsoft shares jumped Friday to close out a holiday-shortened week, pulling the company back into focus in the artificial-intelligence trade ahead of its Build developer conference this week.
Shares finished Friday at $450.24, up 5.45% for the session and about 7.6% higher since the May 22 close. Nasdaq holds regular trading Monday through Friday. The exchange’s 2026 schedule showed equity and options markets will shut for Memorial Day on May 25.
Microsoft stock climbed 5.4% Friday as investors bought in again on bets that the company can turn high AI costs into real gains in software and cloud. Tech shares pushed Wall Street to record closing levels. The software giant bounced back from earlier concerns over AI upending its business, Reuters said.
Microsoft Build is coming up June 2-3 in San Francisco and online. The company says it will start a live blog at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time Tuesday.
Microsoft is expected to roll out its own AI models at Build next week, Reuters said Thursday, citing The Information. The report said Microsoft has a coding model aimed at boosting GitHub Copilot users, with others in the works for speech, images, transcription, and reasoning. Microsoft would not comment on the story.
Hardware is in focus too. Reuters said Saturday, picking up an Axios report, that Nvidia and Microsoft should launch the first Windows PCs running on Nvidia chips next week. These would include Microsoft Surface and Dell machines. Microsoft did not comment.
Microsoft’s April quarter numbers are the backdrop for the stock. The company posted fiscal Q3 revenue of $82.9 billion, up 18%. Microsoft Cloud brought in $54.5 billion, a gain of 29%. Azure and other cloud services grew 40%, or 39% if you exclude currency changes. CEO Satya Nadella said Microsoft’s AI business now runs at more than $37 billion a year in sales at the current rate.
Morningstar’s Dan Romanoff kept his $600 fair value on the stock after earnings, saying “Demand for Azure AI services is surging.” But he noted that the stronger growth comes with lower margins, as higher Azure capital spending cuts into profitability. Morningstar
Spending could stay ahead of revenue at Microsoft. The company reported $31.9 billion in capital expenditures for the March quarter, with capex possibly hitting about $190 billion in calendar 2026. CFO Amy Hood said Microsoft is “confident in the return,” but added that the company expects to be capacity constrained through at least 2026. Microsoft
Competition is raising the stakes. Reuters said Microsoft has tapped AI from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google for GitHub Copilot, as Google and Amazon keep working on AI. If Microsoft’s in-house models turn out to be cheaper or work better with its products, investors could see a margin boost. But if those models fall short, the OpenAI dependency question will return quickly.
Market focus could shift this week. Reuters reported investors are watching the May U.S. payrolls on June 5, Broadcom earnings, and the impact of bond yields after a tech surge. Wells Fargo’s Ohsung Kwon called it “euphoric sentiment” tied to AI. A strong jobs report might boost rate bets and pressure pricey tech names. Reuters
Microsoft investors already know the company has an AI pitch. What is up in the air this week is whether Build can shift the narrative to one where Microsoft owns more of the upside and isn’t just propping up partners—while also not fueling the concern that AI spending is still outpacing returns.
