The tech titan's core growth engines are firing on all cylinders.

When Satya Nadella succeeded Steve Ballmer as Microsoft 's ( MSFT 0.88% ) CEO on Feb. 4, 2014, many investors dismissed the tech giant as a slow-growth stalwart with limited upside potential. But if you had invested $10,000 in Microsoft on Nadella's first day on the job, your investment would be worth $140,000 today and paying out nearly $1,000 in annual dividends.

That same investment in an S&P 500 index fund would only be worth about $38,000 today. Let's see why Microsoft crushed the market -- and if it's still a good stock to buy.

How did Microsoft become a growth stock again?

Under Ballmer, Microsoft struggled to keep pace with Amazon ( AMZN 0.78% ) , Alphabet 's Google ( GOOG 0.21% ) ( GO

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