Microsoft (MSFT) Fell as Azur Revenue Growth Fell Short of Expectations

Mar Vista Investment Partners, LLC, an investment management company, released the “Mar Vista U.S. Quality Select Strategy” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. US stocks suffered their worst quarter in three years, with the steepest losses since 2022, due to tariff concerns and economic stagnation fears. In the first quarter, the strategy returned -3.05% net-of-fees compared to -4.49% and -4.27% returns for the Russell 1000® Index and the S&P 500® Index, respectively. Stock selection within healthcare, communication services, and consumer staples detracted from the fund’s performance during the quarter. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Mar Vista U.S. Quality Select Strategy highlighted stocks such as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a multinational software company that develops and supports software, services, devices, and solutions. The one-month return of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was -0.84%, and its shares lost 2.94% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 24, 2025, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock closed at $387.30 per share with a market capitalization of $2.879 trillion.

Mar Vista U.S. Quality Select Strategy stated the following regarding Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

"Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported strong bookings, highlighted by an accelerating remaining performance obligation of nearly $300 billion, representing 36% year-over-year growth, as well as healthy cloud revenue growth of 21% year-over-year. Despite this solid performance, MSFT stock came under pressure as Azure revenue growth, at 31% year-over-year, came in at the low end of expectations. Additionally, guidance for the March quarter forecasted Azure revenue growth of 31% to 32%, reflecting a slowdown in non-AI related Azure growth.

We continue to believe Microsoft is well-positioned to gain market share as organizations of all sizes pivot toward a digital-first future and adopt generative AI solutions. With a strong presence in the enterprise and a comprehensive portfolio spanning infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and software-as-a-service (SaaS), Microsoft is a mission-critical IT provider across industries.

The company is executing effectively against a significant market opportunity by delivering a roadmap for digital transformation and the adoption of innovative AI tools like ChatGPT. This helps businesses boost productivity while reducing costs. Consequently, we expect Microsoft’s solutions to remain resilient even in a challenging macroeconomic environment, supporting low double-digit intrinsic value growth over our investment horizon."

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is in second position our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 317 hedge fund portfolios held Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 279 in the third quarter. In the fiscal second quarter of 2025, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported $69.6 billion in revenues, up 12% year-over-year. While we acknowledge the potential of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we covered Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and shared the list of stocks on analysts’ radar amid tariff turbulence. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.