Microsoft Stock Hits Record $559.15 on AI Infrastructure Bets

Microsoft shares rose as much as 7% Wednesday, Nov. 4, to a record $559.15, as investors bet that slower AI infrastructure expansion would benefit companies with computing capacity already in place.

It was the stock’s largest one-day gain since late July. In the midterm results, Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress and gubernatorial races in Texas, Ohio and Georgia. Leaders in those states had pledged to strengthen data center regulation.

Investors expected a slower pace of AI infrastructure expansion to favor large companies with computing resources already in place. Those companies could maintain pricing power while facing less pressure to keep spending on capacity.

Newer cloud providers, known as neoclouds, faced the greatest risk from the shift in expectations.