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Microsoft’s Anthropic stake gains $3.2B as OpenAI slips

Microsoft recorded a $3.2B gain on Anthropic in one quarter, while its OpenAI stake fell $600M. Full-year OpenAI gains reached $5B.

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Microsoft recorded a $3.2 billion gain on its Anthropic investment in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, a return that nearly matched what it earned from its OpenAI stake over the entire year. The figures appeared in Microsoft’s earnings report for the quarter ended June 30, 2026.

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Julie Bort
Julie Bort

The Anthropic gain increased Microsoft’s diluted earnings per share by 33 cents, taking quarterly diluted EPS to $4.81. Microsoft invested $5 billion in Anthropic in November 2025 under an agreement that also committed Anthropic to purchasing $30 billion worth of Azure services.

Microsoft does not routinely revalue its Anthropic investment every quarter. It does disclose changes to its OpenAI investment quarterly, and that asset performed worse in the latest period.

Microsoft’s OpenAI investment falls in the quarter

Microsoft marked down its OpenAI investment by about $600 million, reducing diluted EPS by roughly 7 cents. Microsoft owns about 27% of OpenAI and also receives payments through a revenue-sharing arrangement, but it does not disclose how much OpenAI pays under that agreement. Instead, the company reports the value of its investment.

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The quarterly write-down was small relative to Microsoft’s results. The company reported $90 billion in quarterly revenue and $35.8 billion in net income. For fiscal 2026, Microsoft reported $331.8 billion in revenue and $133.7 billion in net income.

Viewed across the full fiscal year, OpenAI still produced a larger gain for Microsoft: $5 billion, adding $0.67 to EPS. Microsoft’s full-year diluted EPS was $17.95.

That makes the Anthropic result notable: in a single quarter, the investment generated almost as much value as Microsoft’s OpenAI stake did over the full year. Microsoft’s earnings report disclosed the Anthropic figure, but it did not provide a broader quarterly valuation history for that investment.

Marcus Vance

Enterprise Editor

Marcus follows the money. He covers enterprise software, cloud architecture, and the tectonic shifts in Big Tech strategy. He translates dense earnings calls and complex M&A activity into actionable insights about where the industry is actually heading. If a tech giant makes a silent pivot, Marcus is usually the first to notice.

via TechCrunch

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