TLDR
- Microsoft (MSFT) stock closed at $532.60 on Monday, up $8.09 or 2%.
- About 60,000 employees in the U.S., Canada, India and the U.K. can take a voluntary buyout.
- Employees must decide in early December, and those who accept leave on Dec. 31.
- Microsoft plans $190 billion in capital spending in 2026, mostly tied to AI.
- Quarterly earnings come Wednesday, with updates on capex and Azure growth.
Microsoft (MSFT) stock closed at $532.60 on Monday, up $8.09 or 2%. The gain came as the company offered voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees.
The offer covers workers in the U.S., Canada, India and the U.K. at level 70 and below. That includes some senior staff.
Who can take the offer
About 60,000 people are eligible, according to a person familiar with the matter. That is roughly 27% of Microsoft’s 223,000 workers.
Employees must decide in early December. Anyone who accepts leaves on Dec. 31.
Some marketing, sales and engineering teams have chosen to pass, the person said. Microsoft has no target number this time.
Chief people officer Amy Coleman wrote in a memo that the offer creates “greater flexibility” for employees. She said it builds on what the company learned from its earlier retirement program.
That first-ever retirement program offered eight to 39 weeks of base pay. About 7% of U.S. employees were eligible.
More than 30% of those eligible took it, Microsoft said in July. That offer reached senior director level 67 and below, while the new one goes up to vice president level.
Microsoft also said in July it would lay off 4,800 employees. That makes three staffing moves this year, and the calendar still has two months left.
Spending and cash flow
Microsoft plans $190 billion in capital spending in 2026, mostly tied to AI. Spending for the September quarter should top $50 billion, up from $34.9 billion a year earlier.
The company supplies cloud services to Anthropic, OpenAI and many other firms. That build-out has put pressure on its finances.
Free cash flow was $19.64 billion in the second quarter, down 23% from a year ago. Alphabet and Amazon both reported negative free cash flow in the same period.
Microsoft is also moving to charge clients based on how much AI they use. It has given programmers, sellers and supply chain workers AI tools, and it says the results are noticeable.
The company says it wants the right talent for its newest growth areas. It also wants to keep its financial profile intact.
In after-hours trading Monday, the stock slipped $2.81, or 1%. Microsoft reports quarterly results on Wednesday, and investors will look for updates on capex plans and Azure growth.
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