Market Analysis Stock Picks Market Insight Crypto Stocks to Buy Hot Stocks The next phase of the AI boom will belong to companies that can turn innovation into profits. Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI). Wall Street loves a big number, and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) delivered several this week. First, on Wednesday, the company reported its fourth-quarter earnings results.

Earnings reached $4.81 per share, up from $3.65 per share a year earlier. Revenue came in at $90 billion, beating expectations of $87.6 billion, while Azure cloud revenue surged 43%. Microsoft also plans to spend $175 billion on AI infrastructure this year. But one number stood out above the rest: Microsoft’s Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO) backlog rose 84% to $678 billion. RPO is the official accounting term for a specific type of backlog – the contracts Microsoft has signed but hasn’t fulfilled yet.