Alphabet vs. Amazon vs. Microsoft: Which Is the Best Cloud Computing Stock to Buy Today?

Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft are competing for dominance in cloud computing as their 2026 performance diverges, with Alphabet up about 13%, Amazon up nearly 7%, and Microsoft down about 20% so far. All three are expanding cloud services and investing heavily in AI infrastructure to capture growth ahead. Amazon benefits from AWS, described as its most profitable segment, where revenue growth accelerated to 28% year over year in the first quarter, and it has partnerships involving Anthropic and OpenAI. Amazon also has a custom-chip business with an estimated run rate over $20 billion. Microsoft’s Azure unit has been growing revenue by 30% or more for 11 straight quarters, including 40% growth in its fiscal Q3, fueled by demand for compute and AI services. The article says Microsoft’s stock has lagged in part due to reliance on OpenAI models and slower development of custom AI chips, while the market worries AI could disrupt software.