Microsoft’s common stock trades under the ticker MSFT, and the company is one of the world’s largest firms by market capitalization.
Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. It first became widely known for software such as MS-DOS and Windows, then expanded into productivity software, enterprise computing, gaming, search, and cloud services.
Microsoft Azure became a major growth engine as companies moved computing workloads to cloud platforms. The company also earns substantial revenue from Microsoft 365, Windows, business software, Xbox, LinkedIn, and other products. This broad portfolio helps explain why Microsoft has remained near the top of global market-cap rankings.
The ticker MSFT is used for Microsoft shares on Nasdaq. A ticker symbol identifies a listed security; it does not measure the company’s value. Market capitalization is calculated from the share price and shares outstanding.