Enterprise AI Advances Power Microsoft: Is There More Upside Ahead?
Microsoft's MSFT enterprise AI push gathered pace in September 2026 with the launch of a reimagined Copilot built around Home, Code and Autopilot. Home brings chat and delegated work together, Code lets non-developers build secure apps and automations in natural language, and Autopilot works as a persistent agent that keeps tasks moving while users are offline. Home and Code are rolling out to Frontier program participants, while Autopilot is expanding in private preview. Microsoft also outlined a hybrid pricing model that keeps per-user pricing for everyday AI and moves advanced capabilities to consumption-based Copilot Credits. Earlier in September, Copilot Studio made its GitHub Copilot harness generally available for reasoning-heavy agents.
These launches build on solid adoption. Microsoft 365 Copilot paid seats topped 30 million in fourth-quarter fiscal 2026, with net seat additions more than doubling sequentially. Agent 365 registered nearly 40 million agents within two months of launch, while Foundry revenues more than doubled year over year. Commercial remaining performance obligation surged 84% year over year to $678 billion.
Guidance signals sustained momentum. For first-quarter fiscal 2027, Microsoft expects revenues of $89.85-$90.95 billion, implying 16-17% growth. Microsoft 365 Commercial cloud revenues are projected to grow about 16% in constant currency, while Azure is expected to grow roughly 45%. Intelligent Cloud revenues are forecast at $40.95-$41.25 billion, up 33-34%.
However, scaling enterprise AI remains costly. Cost of revenues is expected to rise 23-24% in the fiscal first quarter, keeping operating margins roughly flat year over year, while capital expenditures are projected to exceed $50 billion. For fiscal 2027, Microsoft expects operating margins to decline by less than one point as capex keeps rising. The shift toward credit-based pricing could also make Copilot revenues less predictable in the near term. Whether adoption gains outpace infrastructure spending will determine how much upside remains.
How MSFT Compares With CRM and GOOGL in Enterprise AI
Microsoft faces stiff competition in enterprise AI from Salesforce CRM and Alphabet GOOGL. Salesforce is gaining traction with Agentforce, whose annual recurring revenue topped $1.5 billion in second-quarter fiscal 2027, up more than 240% year over year. However, Salesforce expects fiscal 2027 revenues to grow only 11-12%, including an Informatica contribution. Salesforce's agentic push remains largely tied to its CRM base. Alphabet is scaling Gemini Enterprise, now used by nearly 90% of Fortune 100 companies. Alphabet's Google Cloud backlog reached $514 billion in the second quarter of 2026, though Alphabet does not disclose paid Gemini Enterprise seats, unlike Microsoft's Copilot.
MSFT’s Share Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
MSFT shares have returned 4.3% in the year-to-date (YTD) period against the Zacks Computer – Software industry’s decline of 4.5%. The Zacks Computer and Technology sector has appreciated 21.3% in the same time frame.
MSFT’s YTD Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, MSFT stock appears overvalued, trading at a trailing 12-month price/earnings ratio of 29.47X, higher than the industry’s 27.31X. MSFT has a Value Score of D.
MSFT’s Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MSFT’s fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $19.62 per share. The estimate indicates 9.3% year-over-year growth.
Microsoft Corporation Price and Consensus
Microsoft Corporation price-consensus-chart | Microsoft Corporation Quote
Microsoft currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Radical New Technology Could Hand Investors Huge Gains
Quantum Computing is the next technological revolution, and it could be even more advanced than AI.
While some believed the technology was years away, it is already present and moving fast. Large hyperscalers, such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Oracle, and even Meta and Tesla, are scrambling to integrate quantum computing into their infrastructure.
Senior Stock Strategist Kevin Cook reveals 7 carefully selected stocks poised to dominate the quantum computing landscape in his report, Beyond AI: The Quantum Leap in Computing Power.
Kevin was among the early experts who recognized NVIDIA's enormous potential back in 2016. Now, he has keyed in on what could be "the next big thing" in quantum computing supremacy. Today, you have a rare chance to position your portfolio at the forefront of this opportunity.
See Top Quantum Stocks Now >>Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
