Microsoft and Amazon Are Spending Billions on AI. 1 Is Getting Far Better Returns.

Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN) recently reported stellar quarterly results, both registering impressive growth and pouring staggering sums into artificial intelligence (AI). What the market has continued to wonder is who earns more from all that spending. On cloud growth, Microsoft holds the edge for now. Azure grew 43% last quarter, and the company expects that to increase to 45% next quarter. Amazon’s AWS grew 37% in the most recent quarter, although it remains the larger cloud platform. Microsoft also carries the bigger order book, with a backlog of $678 billion against Amazon’s $496 billion.

The return on spending is where the two really split. Both are investing enormous sums, but Microsoft is getting far more back per dollar. For the full year, Amazon now plans roughly $220 billion in 2026 capex, well ahead of Microsoft’s $190 billion. For the fiscal second quarter of 2026 alone, Amazon invested $53.1 billion against Microsoft’s $41 billion in fiscal Q4 2026.