Microsoft made more from Anthropic in one quarter than from OpenAI all year
Fresh earnings figures show Microsoft's bet on Anthropic is paying off fast, while its older stake in OpenAI had a rough three months.
Key points
- Microsoft recorded a $3.2 billion gain on its Anthropic investment in the quarter ending 30 June 2026.
- That single-quarter gain nearly matched the $5 billion full-year gain Microsoft reported on its OpenAI stake for the same fiscal year.
- Microsoft wrote down its OpenAI investment by roughly $600 million in the final quarter, reducing the stated value of that stake.
- Microsoft invested $5 billion in Anthropic in November 2025, tied to a deal where Anthropic agreed to buy $30 billion of Azure cloud services.
- Microsoft reported $90 billion in revenue and $35.8 billion in net income for the quarter.
$90 billion in revenue, $35.8 billion in profit, and buried in the earnings report, a striking detail about bets on two rival AI labs.
What actually happened?
The Anthropic gain, $3.2 billion in a single quarter, nearly matched what Microsoft earned from OpenAI across the entire year. The investment dates to November 2025 and came with an unusual circular arrangement: Anthropic also agreed to spend $30 billion buying Azure cloud computing services. That mutual dependency is worth keeping in mind when reading the headline number.
The $3.2 billion gain added 33 cents to Microsoft's diluted earnings per share, a standard measure of profit divided across all shares. Diluted EPS for the quarter came in at $4.81.
How did the OpenAI stake do?
Not as well, at least not this quarter. Microsoft owns roughly 27% of OpenAI and marks the value of that stake up or down each quarter based on how OpenAI is valued. In the April-to-June quarter, the investment fell by about $600 million, shaving around 7 cents off earnings per share.
Zoomed out, the full-year picture looks better. Over fiscal 2026, the OpenAI stake generated a $5 billion gain and added $0.67 to annual earnings per share. Full-year EPS came in at $17.95.
| Period | Investment | Gain / (Loss) | EPS impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 FY2026 | Anthropic | +$3.2 billion | +$0.33 |
| Q4 FY2026 | OpenAI | -$600 million | -$0.07 |
| Full year FY2026 | OpenAI | +$5 billion | +$0.67 |
| Full year FY2026 | Anthropic | Not reported | Not reported |
Microsoft doesn't routinely update the value of its Anthropic investment each quarter the way it does with OpenAI, which is partly why the Q4 figure stood out enough for the company to flag it separately, as TechCrunch AI first reported.
Should ordinary people care about any of this?
Directly, not much. But it does tell you something about where Microsoft is putting weight. The company is backing both of the biggest names in AI: OpenAI (the maker of ChatGPT) and Anthropic (the maker of the Claude assistant) at the same time. Both tools are available to consumers and businesses today, often free at a basic level, with paid tiers for heavier use.
What's worth watching is whether Microsoft's financial interest in Anthropic starts shaping which AI tools show up more prominently in Windows or Azure. Our coverage of AMD's own $5 billion Anthropic bet on 22 July is a reminder of how quickly money is moving toward Claude specifically. For now, any influence on product placement is speculation. What isn't speculation is that Microsoft's $600 million quarterly dip on OpenAI was, in the company's own context, a rounding error on a $35.8 billion profit.
Rich problems, as they say.
Common questions
Does Microsoft use my data from Office or Windows to value these investments?
No. The investment valuations are accounting calculations based on what outside investors pay for shares in Anthropic and OpenAI, not on user data.
Is Claude or ChatGPT free to use?
Both offer free tiers with daily limits. Paid plans exist for heavier use, though Microsoft doesn't disclose the revenue-share payments it receives from OpenAI under their arrangement.
