Missed Out On Microsoft? My Best Cloud Stock to Buy and Hold

Over the past eight years, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) transformed itself from an aging legacy software company into a high-growth cloud giant. Satya Nadella, who took the helm as Microsoft's third CEO in early 2014, spearheaded the company's "mobile first, cloud first" initiative which converted a large portion of its desktop software into mobile apps and cloud services.

Between fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2021, which ended last June, Microsoft's annual cloud revenues rose from just 5% of its top line in fiscal 2014 to 41% in fiscal 2021. It also grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10%, as its earnings per share (EPS) increased at a CAGR of 17%.

Investors who bought shares of Microsoft on Nadella's first day are now sitting on a total return of nearly 700%. Microsoft remains a rock-solid blue-chip bet for long-term investors, but it probably won't replicate those massive multibagger gains over the next eight years as its cloud business matures.

Source Fool.com