Microsoft MSFT Stock Heads to the Highs Despite 6K Human Job Cuts for AI

Following an early decline, Microsoft's stock rose strongly today, indicating improving sentiment overall and a resurgence of investor ...

Microsoft cutting jobs in favour of AI

Quick overview

  • Microsoft shares rebounded sharply today, recovering from an early dip and reflecting renewed investor confidence.
  • The company's fiscal Q3 2025 results showed a 20% year-over-year increase in cloud revenue, reinforcing its leadership in enterprise cloud services.
  • Despite announcing layoffs affecting about 3% of its workforce, investor optimism remains strong as the stock approaches its all-time high.
  • The positive market sentiment is partly attributed to easing global trade tariffs and the integration of AI into Microsoft's development processes.

Following an early decline, Microsoft’s stock rose strongly today, indicating improving sentiment overall and a resurgence of investor optimism based on cloud expansion.

Microsoft Recovers From Early 2025 Slump

Microsoft (MSFT) stock started the day on a weaker note but quickly reversed course in the U.S. session, surging more than 2% from its lows. The rally reflects investors’ continued optimism following the company’s fiscal Q3 2025 results released on April 30.

At that time, Microsoft posted strong numbers, with Microsoft Cloud revenue jumping 20% year-over-year to $42.4 billion. The performance reaffirmed its dominance in enterprise cloud services through Azure, Office 365, and Dynamics.

MSFT Share Price Chart – The Uptrend Is Back OnChart MSFT, W1, 2025.05.19 22:14 UTC, MetaQuotes Ltd., MetaTrader 5, Demo

This resurgence marks a key turnaround. Microsoft shares had plunged 26% in the first quarter of 2025, slipping from a peak of $468.35 in July 2024 to a low near $344 by early April. However, positive earnings and a broader lift in market sentiment—partly due to easing global trade tariffs—helped reverse the downtrend. Today’s price action brought MSFT to $458.87, its highest level since July last year and within reach of its all-time high.

AI, Layoffs and Strategic Shifts

Despite the bullish momentum, not all recent headlines have been favorable. Microsoft announced last week that it would cut around 6,000 jobs—roughly 3% of its global workforce—across teams and geographies. Unlike earlier layoffs tied to performance, these reductions appear to be linked to structural changes and increasing integration of AI into development processes. CEO Satya Nadella recently noted that artificial intelligence now handles up to 30% of Microsoft’s code generation workload.

The layoffs represent the company’s most significant round of job cuts since 2023, when it reduced its headcount by 10,000. A smaller round of performance-related terminations also occurred in January.

Outlook: All-Time Highs in Sight

Despite workforce reductions and restructuring, investor confidence in Microsoft remains robust. The stock’s rebound toward its record high of $468 indicates strong underlying support, driven by both cloud momentum and the market’s belief in Microsoft’s AI-driven future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR See More
Skerdian Meta
Lead Analyst
Skerdian Meta Lead Analyst. Skerdian is a professional Forex trader and a market analyst. He has been actively engaged in market analysis for the past 11 years. Before becoming our head analyst, Skerdian served as a trader and market analyst in Saxo Bank's local branch, Aksioner. Skerdian specialized in experimenting with developing models and hands-on trading. Skerdian has a masters degree in finance and investment.

Related Articles

Comments

HFM

Doo Prime

XM

Best Forex Brokers