After the results were released, Microsoft’s stock jumped nearly 10% in pre-market trading on Thursday. Microsoft expects revenue for July–September to be between $89.85 billion and $90.95 billion. The company also forecasts accelerated growth for its Azure cloud platform—one of its key business areas.
The last quarter was a record one for Microsoft. Revenue rose 18% to $90 billion, and net income rose 31% to $35.8 billion. Revenue from the cloud business increased by 27%, while Azure grew by 43%.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that Azure’s annual revenue exceeded $100 billion for the first time. According to him, the number of paying users of Microsoft 365 Copilot has already surpassed 30 million. The company also noted that demand for AI computing power continues to outpace supply.
Meta’s earnings report was less impressive. Although the company’s revenue grew by 28% to $60.8 billion, net income fell by 14% to $15.85 billion. Earnings per share also fell short of analysts’ expectations.
Meta attributed this to a sharp rise in expenses. During the quarter, the company spent $2.4 billion on legal proceedings and another $1.18 billion on severance payments to employees following layoffs. As a result, the operating margin fell from 43% to 31%.
Despite this, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that “AI is already accelerating the growth of our core business, driving a new wave of products, and opening the door to entirely new corporate opportunities. The results are already visible, and I am optimistic about the potential that lies ahead.”
