How Microsoft (MSFT) Featured in the Third-Quarter Tech Recovery Attiya Zainib Mon, October 12, 2026 at 10:16 AM EDT 3 min read ^RUT -0.35% MSFT +0.97% Trade MSFT on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
Royce & Associates, LLC (operating as Royce Investment Partners) recently released its "Small Cap Fund" third-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The strategy faced a temporary setback in the third quarter of 2026 as smaller stocks paused after a strong run, but the firm believes the investment environment remains favorable for high-quality small- and micro-cap businesses with strong fundamentals. The Russell 2000 and Russell Microcap indexes each declined 7.2% during Q3, while the Russell 1000 gained 1.8% and the Russell Top 50 rose 4.1%, although small- and micro-caps remained ahead year-to-date, with the Russell 2000 up 13.7% and the Russell Microcap up 18.3%. The quarterly weakness was driven largely by a rebound in mega-cap, AI-focused stocks, while small-cap technology, industrials, financials, and consumer discretionary stocks struggled; nevertheless, aggregate small-cap fundamentals remained strong, with Russell 2000 sales per share rising 2.9%, free cash flow per share increasing 11.2%, and EPS climbing 19.5%. Looking ahead, Royce remains constructive on small-cap leadership, arguing that earnings—not interest rates alone—are the more reliable long-term driver of returns, while strong balance sheets, attractive valuations, accelerating earnings expectations, and the availability of high-quality businesses across sectors create opportunities for active, fundamentals-driven investors. In addition, please check the Fund's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its third-quarter 2026 investor letter, Royce Small Cap Fund discussed stocks like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its review of mega-cap technology stocks' performance. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) develops software, cloud computing infrastructure, and productivity services. Its major businesses include Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Windows, and AI-powered tools, which support its recurring revenue base and position it across enterprise software and cloud computing. The one-month return of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was 5.87% while its shares traded between $349.20 and $553.72 over the last 52 weeks. On October 9, 2026, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock closed at approximately $522.61 per share, with a market capitalization of about $3.97 trillion.
Royce Small Cap Fund stated the following regarding Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its Q3 2026 investor letter:
"In this mixed quarter for equity performance, the rebound for mega-cap stocks was driven by robust results for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), along with several large-cap software and semiconductor names."
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is in 2nd position on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. As per our database, 273 hedge fund portfolios held Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) at the end of the second quarter, which was 282 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and shared our views on the company's spending on AI Cloud. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
