🐂 MSFT — Company Profile (Teaching)¶
Teaching site, not investment advice. Specific market cap / stock price / financial figures change frequently and are intentionally omitted; use the SEC + Yahoo Finance links below to pull real-time data yourself.
📌 Basics¶
| Dimension | Content | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Core business | Azure cloud + Microsoft 365 + Windows + GitHub / LinkedIn + Gaming (Xbox + ATVI) | 10-K FY25 |
| Founded / HQ | 1975 / Redmond, Washington, USA | wiki |
| CEO | Satya Nadella (since 2014/02, succeeded Ballmer) | DEF 14A |
| Primary listing | NASDAQ: MSFT | — |
| Fiscal year | Ends June 30 (FY26 Q3 = Jan-Mar 2026, reported 4/29) | SEC EDGAR |
💡 Real-time market cap / share price / Azure growth / Copilot ARR: see SEC primary + IR links below.
🏭 Supply Chain Coordinates (Part 1-C6 framework)¶
Upstream (Who MSFT Depends On)¶
| Supplier | What flows | Key dependency |
|---|---|---|
NVDA |
AI training / inference GPUs (Azure datacenter mainstay) | Currently the #1 hyperscaler customer |
AMD |
MI300 / MI350 GPUs (secondary + Azure Cobalt CPU co-design) | Diversifies risk |
TSM |
Foundry for in-house Maia ASIC + Cobalt CPU | Only option |
OPENAI |
Model IP (formerly exclusive; non-exclusive as of 2026/04/27 amended agreement) | Owns ~27% diluted, ~$135B invested |
Power / DC OEM (DELL / SMCI / HPE) |
Servers + datacenter equipment | Multi-source, strong bargaining power |
Downstream (Who Depends on MSFT)¶
| Customer | Relationship | Concentration |
|---|---|---|
| Global enterprises (Azure / M365 / GitHub) | SaaS + IaaS + PaaS, highly diversified | Not concentrated; no single customer > 5% |
OPENAI |
Azure remains primary cloud (post-2026/04 amendment OAI can cross-cloud but launches default on Azure) | Strategic customer |
| Copilot enterprise users | Microsoft total AI business annual run-rate > $37B (FY26 Q3) — Copilot product ARR not separately disclosed | — |
Competitors¶
- Cloud:
AMZNAWS (#1 share) /GOOGLGCP (#3 share) /ORCLOCI (new Stargate mega-customer) - Enterprise productivity:
GOOGLWorkspace /CRM(Slack + AI) /NOTION - AI model layer:
GOOGLGemini /ANTHClaude /METALlama /XAIGrok - Gaming:
SONYPS5 /NTDOYSwitch
💼 Business Model + Value Capture (Part 1-C7 view)¶
- Revenue mix: Productivity & Business Processes (M365 + LinkedIn + Dynamics) ~33% / Intelligent Cloud (Azure + Server) ~45% / More Personal Computing (Windows + Xbox + Search) ~22%
- Gross margin: 70%+ (software + cloud mix; among the highest in the industry)
- Pricing power: M365 Copilot $30/seat/month add-on, Azure AI services with strong negotiation leverage — strong
- Substitution difficulty: high — Windows + Office lock in enterprises for 30+ years; Azure locks enterprise data + identity; AD/Entra is the nervous system of corporate IT
(For specific quarterly revenue / Azure growth / Copilot ARR, see the latest SEC 10-Q.)
🏰 Moat Assessment (Part 3-C2 Buffett 5-step lens)¶
| Type | Strength (0-1) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Brand | 0.9 | Global enterprise IT default trust; mandatory for government / finance / healthcare |
| Switching cost | 1.0 | Office + AD + Azure data + GitHub: 30 years of enterprise-grade lock-in |
| Network effects | 0.7 | LinkedIn + GitHub + Office synergy + Teams |
| Scale + cost | 0.9 | Global datacenter footprint + massive FY25 ~$80B capex (Brad Smith public statement) |
Composite: 3.5 / 4 → extremely strong moat, multiple businesses with stacked moats
⚠️ Key Reverse-Trigger Conditions (Part 3-C5 anti-thesis view)¶
- Trigger 1 (quarterly): Azure growth < 25% YoY for 2 consecutive quarters (vs. 30%+ historical)
- Trigger 2 (annual): Capex grows but Copilot / AI revenue lags — operating margin compression
- Trigger 3 (event): OpenAI shifts primary workloads off Azure (2026/04/27 amendment gives OAI this option)
- Trigger 4 (low probability): Regulatory antitrust — EU / DOJ forced unbundling of Azure-OpenAI or Teams
- Trigger 5 (quarterly): GitHub Copilot ARR growth decelerates — gauge of AI-coding market maturity
🔗 Teaching Cross-References¶
- Part 1-C2 · AI industry map — MSFT covers all 4 layers
- Part 1-C4 · How the money flows — MSFT pays NVDA; OpenAI pays MSFT — forming a circular loop
- Part 1-C7 · Business model — How software hits 70%+ gross margin
- Part 1-C10 · 5 real cases — Stargate / MSFT-OpenAI transition
- Part 2A-C2 · Cultural context — Nadella growth-mindset transformation case
- Part 4-C2 · MSFT-OpenAI reshape — three-phase agreement forensic
📚 SEC Primary Filings (look it up yourself)¶
- Latest 10-Q (FY26 Q3 quarterly) — Azure growth / segments / capex data
- Latest 10-K (FY25 annual) — full annual data + capex + risk factors
- Latest 8-K (material events) — executive changes / material agreements
- MSFT-OpenAI 2026/04/27 amended blog — current v3 agreement (LEDGER F-021)
- Investor relations — earnings calendar + Azure historical growth
- SEC EDGAR all filings — complete filing history
Real-time quote: Yahoo Finance MSFT
Teaching use · numbers change — learn the method, not the specific figures · investment decisions are based on your own research + risk tolerance