10 Firms Lead Rally on Impressive Q1 Earnings, Optimistic Outlooks

5. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Technology giant Microsoft Corporation extended its rally for a third consecutive day on Thursday, adding 7.63 percent to end at $425.4 apiece as investors gobbled up shares following better-than-expected earnings coupled with a higher capital allocation for the next year.

On Thursday, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported an 18-percent jump in its net income for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, at $25.8 billion versus the $21.9 billion registered in the same period last year.

Revenues, on the other hand, rose by 2.4 percent to $70.07 billion from $68.42 billion year-on-year.

For the next fiscal year, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella said that the company will gun for a higher capital spending, albeit at a slower rate than the $80 billion budget for the current fiscal year.

Nadella said the 2025 total budget would be allocated for the construction of data centers that can handle artificial intelligence workloads.