Microsoft owns the Azure cloud-computing platform and trades under the ticker MSFT.
Azure is Microsoft’s cloud platform, offering computing power, storage, databases, networking, artificial intelligence, and developer tools. It competes with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, and it has become one of Microsoft’s central business segments.
Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975. The company initially became famous for software such as MS-DOS and Windows, then expanded into productivity software, enterprise services, gaming, hardware, and cloud computing. Its shares have traded on the Nasdaq since the company’s 1986 initial public offering.
The ticker MSFT identifies Microsoft shares on U.S. markets. Microsoft is sometimes confused with its consumer products, such as Windows or Xbox, but those products are businesses and brands operated by the parent company. Azure is a platform rather than a single application.