Justin Pope, The Motley Fool
Mon, July 20, 2026 astatine 5:10 AM CDT 3 min read
The market's cognition that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has fallen down successful artificial quality (AI) continues to measurement connected the stock. The disapproval isn't unwarranted.
Microsoft Copilot simply hasn't go a apical AI app for enterprises. That's surely disappointing, and the company's soaring AI spending hasn't helped matters.
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Microsoft's descent has brought the banal down to 23.5 times trailing 12-month earnings, a level investors seldom get the accidental to bargain at. Cheap isn't ever a buying opportunity. But successful Microsoft's case, it's hard to disregard the banal here.
Growth supports the stock's valuation
Just due to the fact that Copilot hasn't kept up with ChatGPT oregon Claude doesn't undo the profoundly entrenched relationships Microsoft enjoys crossed the endeavor world.
Microsoft inactive rakes successful high-margin income manus implicit fist connected its assorted bundle products, including Windows, Microsoft 365, Dynamics, and more. Its unreality services arm, Azure, is besides thriving. Cloud gross grew 29% successful the 3rd 4th of its fiscal twelvemonth 2026, and Azure's commercialized RPOs (remaining show obligations) surged 99% to $627 billion.
In different words, Copilot's nonaccomplishment frankincense acold isn't dragging the vessel down. Analysts estimation that Microsoft volition turn its net by an mean of 17% annually implicit the adjacent 3 to 5 years. That maturation complaint would marque immoderate banal a table-pounding bargain astatine 23 times earnings, fto unsocial the tech empire and world-class institution that is Microsoft.
Just however atrocious is the hyperscaler currency travel problem?
As a apical AI hyperscaler, Microsoft is pouring billions of dollars into information centers and different AI infrastructure. Microsoft is simply a fiscal juggernaut that generates much currency from its operations astir each year, including a staggering $170 cardinal implicit the past 12 months. But adjacent the deepest pockets person limits. Microsoft mightiness soon find itself with small oregon nary escaped currency flow, considering its plans to walk $190 cardinal this calendar year.
It's not an existential situation by immoderate means, arsenic Microsoft has a fortress-like equilibrium expanse it tin pat if it chooses to proceed connected this path. It does marque Microsoft a capital-intensive institution for the clip being. That world is simply a large crushed wherefore the banal has struggled. So, should each this AI spending dissuade investors from buying Microsoft stock?

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