Microsoft (MSFT) shares opened at $543.45 on Wednesday, up about 0.4%, as the stock traded near one-year high of $553.72. The company’s market value stood at $4.04 trillion. The move followed a report that Microsoft signed more than $130 billion in new data center leases during the latest quarter.

According to CoinCentral, the figure was disclosed in a regulatory filing and represented Microsoft’s largest quarterly increase in data center leasing by far. Total commitments for leases that had not yet started reached $329.1 billion as of the quarter ended June 30, compared with $196.6 billion in the prior period, an increase of $132.5 billion. Because none of those leases has started, the filing captures computing capacity Microsoft has committed to well before it comes online, a measure of how far in advance the company is securing room for demand it says continues to exceed supply.

The related costs will not appear on Microsoft’s balance sheet until payments begin, meaning the expense will enter reported results gradually even though the commitments themselves have already been made. Jonathan Neilson, the company’s head of investor relations, described the leases as “a signal of the continued demand strength that we see.” He added that the leases would serve demand “for many many years,” while noting that some agreements depend on specific contractual conditions being met.

Microsoft has faced data center capacity constraints and paused leasing activity through much of 2025. Management has said demand continues to exceed available capacity, while the company’s commercial backlog remains at a record level. Against that backdrop, the new leases mark a reversal of the pause, with the company adding capacity while demand still outstrips what it can deliver.

Maia 300 and New Products

Microsoft also unveiled its third-generation Maia 300 custom artificial intelligence processor. The company said the chip can produce about 40% more AI-generated tokens per megawatt or per dollar than leading GPU-based systems. Multi-gigawatt deployments are scheduled to begin in 2027.

Microsoft said Maia 300 could reduce inference costs and support Azure margins. The processor may also reduce the company’s dependence on Nvidia and AMD, although the results will depend on the chip’s deployment and performance. With multi-gigawatt deployments not beginning until 2027, any such effect remains ahead of current results.

The company introduced its Decision-1 model as well, describing it as faster and less expensive to operate than competing models. New Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices include AI features, 5G connectivity and improved battery efficiency.

Microsoft is also carrying out another round of layoffs in Israel. Research chief Peter Lee is leaving the company for Mercedes’ Formula 1 team. In addition, Norway fined Microsoft’s Xandr unit €8.6 million over data sharing involving Grindr. Chief Executive Satya Nadella and President Brad Smith have called for stronger safeguards for artificial intelligence.

Analyst Ratings and Insider Transactions

Barclays raised its Microsoft price target to $600 from $512 while maintaining an “overweight” rating. William Blair began coverage with an “outperform” rating on October 5. BNP Paribas Exane lowered its rating to “hold” from “strong-buy” on the same day.

Forty-two analysts rate the stock a Buy, four rate it Hold and two rate it Sell. MarketBeat lists the consensus rating as “Moderate Buy.” The average analyst price target is $581.80.

Microsoft insiders sold 143,009 shares worth approximately $71.4 million over the past three months. Chief Executive Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares at $501.46 on September 1, while Executive Vice President Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares at $498.27 on September 14. Both transactions were made under pre-arranged trading plans.

Microsoft last reported earnings on July 29. Earnings per share came in at $4.74, compared with an estimate of $4.24, while revenue reached $90.01 billion, an increase of 17.7% from a year earlier.

The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.98 on December 10 to shareholders of record on November 19. The dividend is up from $0.91. Microsoft is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter results on October 28. Analysts expect earnings of $4.72 per share on revenue of $90.4 billion. That report offers the next scheduled checkpoint for updated figures on the leasing commitments and on whether the contractual conditions attached to some of the new agreements have been met.

Technical Levels

On the daily chart, Microsoft shares have been in an uptrend after breaking out of a base near $500. The stock is testing its all-time high around $554, with the latest price at $543.45. A zone between $505 and $518 previously acted as resistance and now appears as support, alongside a rising trendline in the area of $495 to $510.

The relative strength index was 70.73, near the overbought threshold. The moving average convergence divergence indicator was above its signal line, at 12.35 versus 10.17, with a positive histogram.

The technical levels cited in the report place a daily close above $554 at a potential new all-time-high level, while a move below the $505-to-$518 support zone could bring attention to $495 and then $475. These levels describe the chart setup and are not investment advice.