Microsoft shares rose 3.25% on Wednesday, trading at $397.46 as of 12:01 p.m. EDT, as investors rotated out of AI-linked chip stocks and into software names. The stock remains down from its 52-week high of $555.45, reached in July 2025, but has pulled up from a 52-week low of $349.20 hit in late June. Microsoft has faced pressure in the first half of 2026, falling as much as 19% to 21% year-to-date, amid anxiety over AI capital expenditures, Copilot adoption, and a securities fraud class action. Despite this, fiscal third-quarter results beat expectations, with earnings per share of $4.27 versus a consensus estimate of $4.09, on revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year. Azure cloud revenue grew 40%, while capital expenditures rose to $30.88 billion, up 84.39% year over year. Chief Executive Satya Nadella stated, "Our AI business surpassed an annual revenue run rate of $37 billion, up 123% year-over-year." Microsoft recently extended its partnership with OpenAI.