Microsoft's $6.8 Billion Dividend Dwarfed by $116 Billion AI Capex

Corporate ActionEarnings
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Summary · why it matters

Microsoft went ex-dividend on August 20, 2026 at $0.91 a share, paying out $6,757,245,950 to holders of record, the largest of 26 companies going ex-dividend that day. The payout was dwarfed by the company's fiscal 2026 capital expenditures of $115.948 billion, up from $64.551 billion a year earlier, while full-year dividends paid were $26.445 billion. CFO Amy Hood said Microsoft returned over $43 billion to shareholders during the fiscal year through dividends and repurchases, and forecast the company will remain free cash flow positive in fiscal 2027 even as capex could reach approximately $175 billion. Azure crossed $100 billion in annual revenue, Copilot passed 30 million paid seats, and commercial RPO hit $678 billion, up 84%. Microsoft shares closed at $481.15 on August 20, 2026, down 3.91% over one year and up 0.12% year to date.

Impact on stocks 5

Consumer Discretionary▲ · 2 stocks
Artificial Intelligence▼ · 1 stocks
Microsoft Corporation
MSFT
▼ NegativeCapitalrelevance

Dividend payout dwarfed by massive AI capex, with capex forecast to rise further, pressuring free cash flow.

Semiconductors▲ · 1 stocks
Cloud & Digital Infrastructure▲ · 1 stocks

Theme Impact 4

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