Microsoft owns the Azure cloud platform and uses the stock ticker MSFT.
Microsoft is a major publicly traded technology company whose businesses include software, cloud computing, personal computing, gaming, and professional networking. Its shares trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol MSFT, making the company easy to identify in market-capitalization tables.
Azure is Microsoft’s cloud-computing platform. It provides computing, storage, databases, networking, analytics, artificial intelligence, and other services to organizations and developers. Azure competes most directly with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.
Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Its market value expanded substantially as investors placed greater importance on recurring software revenue and cloud services. Microsoft’s other recognizable products include Windows, Microsoft 365, Xbox, and LinkedIn. Market capitalization rankings can change daily, but Microsoft has remained one of the world’s most valuable public companies.