Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Rallied in Q2, Driven by Azure growth

Macquarie Asset Management, an investment management company, released its “Macquarie Large Cap Growth Fund” investor letter for the second quarter of 2025. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The second quarter of 2025 endured significant government policy changes and geopolitical events, which resulted in volatility yet ended with robust performance for equity markets. The Fund’s Institutional Class shares posted an absolute positive return of 11.24% in the quarter, but underperformed the benchmark, the Russell 1000 Growth Index, which returned 17.84%. For more information on the fund’s best picks in 2025, please check its top five holdings.

In its second-quarter 2025 investor letter, the Macquarie Large Cap Growth Fund highlighted stocks such as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a multinational software company that develops and supports software, services, devices, and solutions. The one-month return of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was 2.71%, and its shares gained 19.47% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 19, 2025, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock closed at $517.93 per share, with a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion.

Macquarie Large Cap Growth Fund stated the following regarding Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:

“The largest contributors were our underweight to Apple Inc., underweight to Eli Lilly and Co., and position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Microsoft, a significant position in the portfolio, rallied following better-than-expected results. The business demonstrated strength across every segment, but what particularly encouraged the market was accelerated growth of its cloud computing platform Azure. While AI services continue to contribute meaningfully to Azure growth, the segment also saw strength in Azure cloud (non-AI) services as companies continue to recognize the importance of moving from on-premises to cloud.”

Microsoft (MSFT) Stock: Truist Raises Price Target to $675, Reiterates Buy

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is in second position our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 294 hedge fund portfolios held Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) at the end of the second quarter compared to 284 in the previous quarter. In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) reported revenue of $76.4 billion, representing an 18% increase, or 17% when adjusted for constant currency. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we covered Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and shared the list of AI stocks making big moves on Wall Street. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.