Microsoft, AMD poised to outperform as data center spending nears $3 trillion（約480兆円） by 2028

The article positions Microsoft and Advanced Micro Devices as beneficiaries of a structural shift in corporate spending toward artificial intelligence infrastructure. Morgan Stanley's $3 trillion（約480兆円） data center projection by 2028 provides the economic backdrop—a sustained multi-year investment cycle that favors companies with the scale and technology to serve hyperscalers (large cloud providers). Microsoft's position rests on two strengths: a massive backlog of $627 billion（約100兆円） in remaining performance obligations (25% expected to be earned in the next 12 months) and the operational cash generation ($170 billion（約27兆円） annually) needed to fund a doubling of data center capacity over two years. The company acknowledges that heavy capital spending will pressure near-term earnings, but management frames these assets as five- to 15-year bets, implying the market may be undervaluing long-term returns. AMD's advantage is more tactical: it is winning server CPU share from Intel (a multi-year trend that accelerated in Q1) and the 2025 ZT Systems acquisition gives it the design and integration capabilities to offer complete rack systems—a capability that was previously limited to Nvidia among chip vendors. The second-half 2026 launch of Helios represents a near-term catalyst for AMD's data center GPU ambitions. Both stocks are being evaluated on growth multiples that the article suggests may be justified: Microsoft at a forward P/E of 20 with 16% projected earnings growth, and AMD at 74x forward P/E with 59% projected earnings growth, though AMD's valuation is acknowledged as elevated.