Microsoft (MSFT) Research & Development (2009 - 2026)
Microsoft (MSFT) reported Research & Development of $9.05 billion for fiscal Q1 2027 (quarter ended Sep 30, 2026), up 11.1% from $8.15 billion a year earlier but down 9.5% from the prior quarter.
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Analysis
Microsoft (MSFT) Research & Development (2009 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
Over the twelve months ended Sep 30, 2026, Microsoft's Research & Development came in at $36.46 billion, up 10.2% year-over-year; for FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), it came in at $35.56 billion, up 9.5% from FY2025.
- Research & Development has increased for ten consecutive fiscal years, with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 11.4% (FY2021 to FY2026).
- By fiscal year, Research & Development came in at $32.49 billion in FY2025 (+10.1%), $29.51 billion in FY2024 (+8.5%), $27.2 billion in FY2023 (+10.9%) and $24.51 billion in FY2022 (+18.3%).
- Five-year quarterly Research & Development spans a low of $5.76 billion in fiscal Q2 2022 and a high of $10 billion in fiscal Q4 2026.
- Year over year, Research & Development has now increased in each of the last 13 quarters, with growth averaging 9.5% over the last eight quarters.
- The high point for year-over-year Research & Development in five years was fiscal Q3 2022 (growth of 21.2%); the low point was fiscal Q4 2023 (a decline of 1.6%).
- Per Business Quant data, the three fiscal quarters before Q1 2027 came in at $10 billion (Q4 2026), $8.92 billion (Q3 2026) and $8.5 billion (Q2 2026).
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | R&D (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Microsoft | 3,944.62 Bn | 3,880.11 Bn | 62.56 Bn | 9.05 Bn |
| 2 | International Business Machines | 231.10 Bn | 185.71 Bn | 9.71 Bn | 2.38 Bn |
| 3 | Equinix | 100.11 Bn | 88.01 Bn | 1.31 Bn | - |
| 4 | Cloudflare | 96.02 Bn | 78.46 Bn | 557.23 Mn | 168.20 Mn |
| 5 | Nebius | 31.44 Bn | 4.87 Bn | 448.70 Mn | 191.00 Mn |
| 6 | Verisign | 27.82 Bn | 25.17 Bn | 393.20 Mn | 26.50 Mn |
| 7 | CoreWeave | 25.57 Bn | 12.66 Bn | 1.70 Bn | - |
| 8 | Nutanix | 15.68 Bn | 7.37 Bn | 651.35 Mn | 205.05 Mn |
| 9 | GoDaddy | 14.30 Bn | 9.69 Bn | 843.00 Mn | - |
| 10 | Akamai Technologies | 12.01 Bn | 5.41 Bn | 613.75 Mn | 148.82 Mn |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2026 | 9.05 Bn |
| Jun 30, 2026 | 10.00 Bn |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 8.92 Bn |
| Dec 31, 2025 | 8.50 Bn |
| Sep 30, 2025 | 8.15 Bn |
| Jun 30, 2025 | 8.83 Bn |
| Mar 31, 2025 | 8.20 Bn |
| Dec 31, 2024 | 7.92 Bn |
| Sep 30, 2024 | 7.54 Bn |
| Jun 30, 2024 | 8.06 Bn |
| Mar 31, 2024 | 7.65 Bn |
| Dec 31, 2023 | 7.14 Bn |
| Sep 30, 2023 | 6.66 Bn |
| Jun 30, 2023 | 6.74 Bn |
| Mar 31, 2023 | 6.98 Bn |
| Dec 31, 2022 | 6.84 Bn |
| Sep 30, 2022 | 6.63 Bn |
| Jun 30, 2022 | 6.85 Bn |
| Mar 31, 2022 | 6.31 Bn |
| Dec 31, 2021 | 5.76 Bn |
API Access
Microsoft Research & Development API
Pull this series into your own models, spreadsheets and apps with the Business Quant
Historical Metrics API. The request below matches the chart above — change the
frequency, period or values and it follows. Swap YOUR_API_KEY for your own key.
https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=research-and-development&ticker=MSFT&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "research-and-development", "ticker": "MSFT", "period": "max", "api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
data = requests.get(url, params=params).json()const res = await fetch("https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=research-and-development&ticker=MSFT&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();