Daiwa: Microsoft's AI leadership position is "clear", with continued strong spending intentions for Azure and M365.

Morgan Stanley released a research report stating that Microsoft's leadership position in the field of generative artificial intelligence is "very clear", citing "strong demand trends" from Microsoft 365, Copilot, and Azure cloud services as evidence. In terms of Azure, 62% of CIOs expect to increase related expenses in the next 12 months, up from 57% in the second quarter of 2025. Intentions to spend on Microsoft 365 and Office 365 have also "significantly increased", with 65% of CIOs expecting to increase spending, compared to 46% and 55% in the second quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025, respectively.