Bill Ackman disclosed on X that he has built a new position in Microsoft, following a pullback after its latest earnings report. He says the move reflects a wider trend of buying strong long-term companies when short-term market sentiment weakens.
As two of the largest forces in equity markets — growing index ownership and increasing amounts of capital controlled by extremely short-term-oriented, leveraged, volatility-intolerant investors — converge, we have found occasional opportunities to acquire some of the most…
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) May 15, 2026
He also points to earlier trades in Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta as examples of the same approach, where strong businesses became available at more attractive valuations during periods of investor concern.
M365 and Azure remain the core of the investment case
Ackman highlights Microsoft’s two main profit engines, which are Microsoft 365 and Azure, which together account for the bulk of earnings.
Microsoft 365 continues to dominate enterprise productivity, with hundreds of millions of users relying on its core tools daily. Its deep integration into corporate systems around security, identity, and compliance makes it difficult to replace.
Azure, meanwhile, remains one of the largest cloud platforms globally and continues to benefit from long-term enterprise migration to cloud infrastructure, now further supported by rising demand for AI computing.
He also notes that Microsoft’s exposure to OpenAI is not fully reflected in its current valuation, adding another layer to the investment thesis.
AI concerns, growth debates, and Microsoft’s long-term durability
Investor debate around Microsoft has centred on competition from newer AI products and on uncertainty about the durability of cloud growth. Ackman argues these concerns are overstated, given Microsoft’s entrenched position in enterprise software.
He also points to Microsoft’s shift toward AI-driven products like Copilot and its evolving pricing model, which combines subscriptions with usage-based charges to capture more value from increased AI activity.
Despite heavy capital spending plans for AI infrastructure, he views it as a necessary investment supporting future growth rather than a risk to returns. Overall, he suggests the recent price weakness reflects sentiment more than fundamentals.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has taken sweeping legal action to neutralize “Lumma Stealer,” a powerful malware tool that has silently siphoned sensitive data from hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide.
Enjoyed this? Bookmark DeFi Planet, explore related topics, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Threads and CoinMarketCap Community for seamless access to high-quality industry insights.
Take control of your crypto portfolio with DEFI PLANET PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools
