Microsoft Posts $3.2 Billion Anthropic Gain As OpenAI Stake Falls

Microsoft’s latest earnings report revealed sharply different performances from its investments in two of the AI industry's leading companies.

As part of its fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 results, which covered the period ending June 30, Microsoft disclosed that its investment in Anthropic generated a $3.2 billion gain, providing a notable boost to the company's quarterly earnings. During the same period, however, Microsoft recorded a decline in the value of its investment in OpenAI.

Despite the contrasting investment results, Microsoft delivered another highly profitable quarter, underscoring the company's strong overall financial performance.

Microsoft's Anthropic Investment Delivers $3.2 Billion Quarterly Gain

Microsoft said its investment in Anthropic added $3.2 billion during the quarter, increasing diluted earnings per share by 33 cents. The company reported diluted earnings per share of $4.81 for the quarter.

The software giant invested $5 billion in Anthropic in November 2025 as part of an agreement under which the AI company also committed to purchasing $30 billion in Azure cloud services.

Unlike its OpenAI investment, Microsoft does not routinely update the valuation of its Anthropic stake every quarter. The latest earnings report provided a rare look at the investment's performance.

OpenAI Investment Records Quarterly Decline But Remains Strong Annually

Microsoft's investment in OpenAI produced a different result during the quarter.

The company reported a $600 million write-down on its OpenAI investment, reducing diluted earnings per share by approximately 7 cents.

Microsoft owns roughly 27% of OpenAI. While the company also receives revenue-sharing payments from the AI developer, it does not disclose the value of those payments. Instead, Microsoft reports changes in the carrying value of its investment.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: OpenAI AI Agent Breach Timeline Revealed After Hugging Face Hack, Reuters Reports

Although the quarterly write-down drew attention, it had little impact on Microsoft's broader financial results. The company reported $90 billion in quarterly revenue and net income of $35.8 billion. For the full fiscal year, Microsoft generated $331.8 billion in revenue and $133.7 billion in net income.

Full-Year OpenAI Returns Still Outpace Quarterly Setback

Looking at the full fiscal year, Microsoft's OpenAI investment remained profitable.

The company reported that its OpenAI stake generated a $5 billion gain for the year and contributed $0.67 to earnings per share. Microsoft reported fiscal 2026 diluted earnings per share of $17.95.

While the annual performance remained positive, Microsoft's latest results highlighted that the $3.2 billion quarterly gain from Anthropic nearly matched the $5 billion full-year gain generated by its OpenAI investment.

The comparison was significant enough that Microsoft specifically called attention to it in its earnings disclosure.