Microsoft and Alphabet: AI’s Durable Growth Engines
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a story-stock theme — it’s a critically important line item in the world’s biggest profit and loss statements. If you want exposure without betting on cyclical chip sales or a moonshot app, two established platforms stand out: Microsoft (MSFT 0.56%) and Alphabet (GOOGL 3.10%) (GOOG 2.98%).
Both are converting AI interest into real revenue and profit across huge, diversified businesses. Their combination of scale, product breadth, and improving economics makes them straightforward buys for long-term investors looking for exposure to AI.
Here’s why investors seeking to own companies benefiting from AI should consider these two technology giants before venturing into riskier upstarts.
image source: Getty Images.
Microsoft: AI is helping fuel broad-based momentum
microsoft’s most recent quarter showed exactly what investors should want to see: broad growth with AI as a key tailwind. The software and cloud computing giant’s revenue rose 18% to $76.4 billion, operating income jumped 23% to $34.3 billion, and revenue from Microsoft’s cloud-based products and services reached $46.7 billion, up 27% year over year.
The company’s “Azure and other cloud services” segment was a key driver of its momentum in cloud. Revenue grew an remarkable 39%, a clear signal that AI workloads are expanding Azure’s addressable market and deepening customer commitments.
Scale matters,and Microsoft has it. Management said Azure surpassed a $75 billion annual revenue run-rate in fiscal 2025, up 34%