Microsoft shares rose approximately 37.5% in the third quarter of 2026, adding about $1 trillion in market value after strong Azure growth and accelerating adoption of its Copilot tools. The broader software sector also rallied as concerns that artificial intelligence would displace established vendors gave way to expectations that AI could lift revenue and expand product offerings. Salesforce gained about 46% after introducing Claudeforce, which connects customers to Anthropic’s Claude assistant, while Workday rose 55%, Veeva Systems climbed about 60% and CrowdStrike advanced 39%. A separate software-sector account cited a 17% quarterly gain for the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF and an 11% decline for the iShares Semiconductor ETF. Oppenheimer identified Microsoft, ServiceNow and Braze as preferred AI beneficiaries, citing their customer-data roles and consumption-based pricing. Jim Cramer remained constructive on Microsoft and Salesforce but said interest rates and upcoming earnings would be central risks for the fourth quarter.