Software giant reports $36.6bn in profit, beating Wall Street expectations, as Azure cloud computing division grows 48%

Microsoft gained billions of dollars in stock market value Wednesday afternoon after it reported better than expected revenue and profit, just days after it offered voluntary buyouts to some 60,000 employees.

The office software giant’s growth was fueled by its Azure cloud computing division, which grew by 48% in the September quarter.

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© Photograph: David Ryder/Reuters

© Photograph: David Ryder/Reuters

© Photograph: David Ryder/Reuters

Software giant reports $36.6bn in profit, beating Wall Street expectations, as Azure cloud computing division grows 48%

Microsoft gained billions of dollars in stock market value Wednesday afternoon after it reported better than expected revenue and profit, just days after it offered voluntary buyouts to some 60,000 employees.

The office software giant’s growth was fueled by its Azure cloud computing division, which grew by 48% in the September quarter.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: David Ryder/Reuters

© Photograph: David Ryder/Reuters

© Photograph: David Ryder/Reuters

Microsoft has never disclosed Azure's quarterly revenue in dollars. But for the first time, we can see just how close it is getting to besting the biggest competitor in the market, AWS.

Microsoft said it made $10 billion in revenue from commercial arrangements with OpenAI, including revenue-sharing payments, in the quarter ending September 30. It underscores the still-enormous financial dependency of the partnership.

Whatever the future of AI might be, the current situation is still very good for Microsoft. The tech giant reported yet another record for quarterly revenue on Wednesday: $92.3 billion, a 19% increase over the year-ago quarter.

The buyout offers mark Microsoft's latest efforts to cut costs and rework its workforce.

From Apple's repeatedly delayed Siri AI to OpenAI's messy "super app" launch, here's a look at the AI projects that shut down or missed expectations.

Microsoft points the blame for ConnectWise's breach at a China-aligned hacker, which relied on AI agents to rapidly hack into thousands of its customers.

Microsoft wants enterprises to closely watch the agents that employees use with systems not controlled by AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic.