Microsoft is on track to set a new global record for the largest single-day increase in market capitalisation in stock market history.

On Thursday, shares of Microsoft surged by as much as 17%, and by 12:55 PM New York time, the company's market value had expanded by approximately $490 billion. If this rally holds through the closing bell, Microsoft will surpass the previous daily market cap gain record held by NVIDIA.

NVIDIA had set its record last year after former US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariff measures, which saw the chipmaker's market value jump by around $440 billion in a single session. Should Microsoft maintain its current gains, it will mark the largest single-day value creation ever recorded.

Thursday's sharp rise in Microsoft's stock price represents the biggest intraday gain for the tech giant since October 2008. The move followed the release of the company's earnings report, which revealed that its cloud computing division, Azure, posted a 43% year-over-year revenue increase in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026, marking the fastest growth rate since early 2022. Additionally, the company's capital expenditure plans came in below market expectations.

The nearly $500 billion increase in Microsoft's market capitalisation is now greater than the total market value of approximately 96% of the companies in the S&P 500 index. In other words, the value Microsoft added in a single day exceeds the entire worth of the vast majority of publicly traded US firms.

This single-day gain is even larger than the combined market capitalisation of the 44 smallest companies in the S&P 500, which includes well-known names such as Domino's Pizza, Clorox, and Hasbro.

The value Microsoft added on Thursday also surpasses the total market capitalisation of several national stock markets around the world. The entire stock markets of countries such as South Africa, Turkey, Finland, and Vietnam are all valued at less than the increase Microsoft is expected to achieve in just one day.