Microsoft’s revenue rose 17% to $61.9 billion for the March ending quarter on its cloud boost, some significant deals for the platform, and the wide selection of AI accelerators it offered. Earnings per share was $2.94, representing a rise of 20%
“The number of 100 million dollar-plus Azure deals increased over 80% year-over-year, while the number of 10 million dollar-plus deals more than doubled,” CEO Satya Nadella said.
Other prominent products like Office, for commercial and consumer, LinkedIn, Intelligent Cloud, Windows, and Xbox content and services added to the rise in earnings.
But the company’s devices unit reported a decline in revenue by 17%.
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Nadella echoed Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s earlier prediction that AI would change the way the world approached programming.
“Anyone can be a developer with new AI-powered features across our low-code/no-code tools, which make it easier to build an app, automate workflows, or create a copilot using natural language,” he said, adding, “Nearly 60% of the Fortune 500 now use Copilot, and we’ve seen accelerated adoption across industries and geographies, with companies like Amgen, BP, Cognizant, Koch Industries, Moody’s, Novo Nordisk, NVIDIA, and Tech Mahindra purchasing over 10,000 seats.”
Nadella hailed the company’s partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, noting that more than 65% of the Fortune 500 were using the Azure OpenAI Service.
Bing also reached over 140 million daily active users.
Nadella spoke in support of AI-generated/enhanced content and interactions on search platforms and LinkedIn, adding that Copilot would help create marketing content as well.
On gaming, he said that Microsoft set third quarter records for game streaming hours, console usage, and monthly active devices.
Nadella spent some moments emphasising on security as the company’s top priority, even as Microsoft continues to combat state-sponsored hackers who breached top-level emails.
A U.S. federal Cyber Safety Review Board report in March observed that “Microsoft’s security culture was inadequate” and called out its “cascade of security failures.”
Microsoft is also facing lawsuits over allegations that it illegally scraped creators’ copyrighted media to develop its AI products.
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