FORESIGHT PLATFORM
FORESIGHT PLATFORM

Microsoft Stock

Microsoft (MSFT) trades at approximately $401 on the NASDAQ as of February 17, 2026. The stock is down roughly 28% from its all-time high of $555.45 reached in late October 2025.

The company's market cap sits at around $2.98 trillion, making it the fourth most valuable publicly traded company globally. Shares have moved between $344.79 and $555.45 over the past 52 weeks.

Stock Price of Microsoft

Microsoft Stock Forecast

Wall Street remains bullish on Microsoft. Across 33 analysts, the consensus rating is "Strong Buy" with an average 12-month price target of roughly $593–$603, about 48% above the current price. The lowest target sits around $392 while the highest reaches $678. Expected revenue growth of 16% for fiscal year 2026 (ending June 2026) drives much of this optimism.

Azure cloud growth, AI product adoption across enterprise software platforms, and $80 billion in capital expenditure commitments remain the core bull case. The main risk: investors want to see Microsoft converting its commercial AI backlog into actual recognized revenue, and software stocks broadly face pressure from AI disruption fears.

Microsoft Valuation

Timeline of Microsoft Funding

1975
Founded — Self-Funded
Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in Albuquerque, NM. The company was cash-positive from early on and never had a year of losses.
1981
MS-DOS Licensing Deal with IBM
Microsoft licensed its MS-DOS operating system to IBM for its first PC. Royalties from every PC sold generated large recurring revenue streams.
1981
Pre-IPO Investment — $1M
Technology Venture Investors made a $1 million investment in Microsoft — the only outside funding the company ever took before going public.
March 13, 1986
IPO — Raised $61 Million
Microsoft went public at $21 per share on the NASDAQ. Shares surged to $27.75 by end of day. The IPO valued the company at $777 million. Goldman Sachs was the lead underwriter.
1996
Convertible Preferred Stock — $980M
Goldman Sachs led an issuance of $980 million in income-yielding convertible-preferred stock, Microsoft's first major post-IPO capital market transaction.
September 2012
Debt Issuance — $4.75 Billion
Microsoft tapped the debt markets for only the second time in its history, raising $4.75 billion across four tranches during a period of record-low interest rates.
2023–2025
AI Capital Commitments — $80B+
Microsoft committed over $80 billion in AI infrastructure investment, including $13 billion in OpenAI, $17.5 billion in India, and $5.4 billion in Canada.

Microsoft Investors

The Vanguard Group

~702 million shares ~9.4% ownership stake Largest institutional holder

Institutional — Index Funds
BlackRock

~560 million shares ~7.5% ownership stake World's largest asset manager

Institutional — Asset Management
State Street Corporation

~308 million shares ~4.1% ownership stake SPDR ETF family operator

Institutional — Index Funds
Steven A. Ballmer

~333 million shares ~4.49% ownership stake Former CEO (2000–2014), LA Clippers owner

Individual — Insider
FMR LLC (Fidelity)

~90 million shares ~1.2% ownership stake Fidelity 500 Index Fund is top holder

Institutional — Asset Management
Geode Capital Management

~180 million shares ~2.4% ownership stake Originally spun off from Fidelity Investments in 2003

Institutional — Quantitative
Bill Gates

Largest individual shareholder (reduced stake) Co-founder, held 45% at IPO Stake gradually reduced through philanthropy

Individual — Co-Founder
Technology Venture Investors

$1 million pre-IPO (1981) Only external VC investor before IPO Silicon Valley venture capital firm

VC — Pre-IPO