Overview
- Microsoft went public on March 13, 1986, and its total return since listing far outpaced the S&P 500’s roughly 2,705% gain over the same period.
- A $1,000 investment at the IPO would be worth about $5.5 million today, aided by nine stock splits that expanded roughly 47 initial shares into about 13,700.
- Microsoft began paying a quarterly dividend in 2003, with long-term holders collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in payouts and significant ongoing annual income.
- The company’s AI and cloud momentum includes multibillion-dollar investments tied to OpenAI, which has become a major Azure customer.
- In Q2 of fiscal 2026, Microsoft reported $81.3 billion in revenue, up 17% year over year, and returned $12.7 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.