Attendees walk through an exposition hall at AWS re:Invent, a conference hosted by Amazon Web Services, in Las Vegas on Dec. 3, 2024.LONDON — Britain's competition regulator on Thursday declared that Microsoft and Amazon are hurting competition in the cloud computing industry and called for a further probe under the country's strict new tech rules.The Competition and Markets Authority said that market concentration and barriers to entry in the cloud services market have enabled both Microsoft and Amazon to ...

Core Insights - Microsoft's annual revenue for its Azure cloud computing platform has exceeded $75 billion, reflecting a 34% increase from the previous year [3][4] - The company's fiscal fourth-quarter profit reached $34.3 billion, or $3.65 per share, surpassing analyst expectations of $3.37 per share [5][6] - Microsoft reported total revenue of $76.4 billion for the April-June period, an 18% increase year-over-year, exceeding analyst forecasts of $73.86 billion [6] Company Strategy - The Azure cloud business is central to Microsoft's strategy to pivot towards artificial intelligence, with the company aiming to sell AI tools to large business clients [3][6] - CEO Satya Nadella emphasized that Microsoft is scaling its data center capacity faster than competitors, with over 400 facilities across six continents [5][9] - Despite the increase in profits, Microsoft announced layoffs of approximately 15,000 workers, which the CEO described as an opportunity to reimagine the company's mission in the AI era [7][8] Competitive Landscape - Microsoft still trails behind Amazon Web Services, which reported $107.6 billion in revenue for its fiscal year ending in December [7] - The company is facing significant capital expenditures, with CFO Amy Hood projecting $30 billion for the July-September quarter, as it invests in data centers and AI technology [10] Economic Environment - Microsoft has not disclosed the impact of U.S. tariffs on its revenue, but it acknowledges tariffs as a risk in its annual report [10] - The company highlighted that geopolitical instabilities and changing U.S. administration priorities contribute to an unpredictable trade landscape, potentially affecting supply chain cost competitiveness [11]

Core Viewpoint - Microsoft is focusing on capital expenditures exceeding $30 billion for FY2025 Q1, supported by a backlog of $368 billion in contracts, which includes the entire Microsoft Cloud ecosystem, not just Azure [1][7] Group 1: Financial Performance and Strategy - The company anticipates a decrease in the growth rate of capital expenditures, but investments in short-term assets like servers and GPUs are closely tied to backlog orders and demand curves [1][7] - Profit margins will be enhanced not only through cost control but also by launching competitive and innovative products that drive revenue growth, creating a self-reinforcing cycle [1][9] - The company is committed to improving efficiency across all technology stacks, leveraging the compounding effects of the S-curve, while simultaneously expanding operations [1][9] Group 2: Market Trends and Customer Migration - Customer migration remains healthy, with significant examples like Nestlé's SAP instance and extensive data and server migrations, indicating that this trend is still in its early stages [4] - The expansion of cloud-native applications is notable, with many customers drawn to Azure not just for AI but for broader cloud services [4] - There is a substantial increase in AI-related workloads, contributing to the overall growth of the cloud services [4] Group 3: AI and SaaS Monetization - The transition from servers to cloud services is seen as a significant growth opportunity, with AI driving similar transformations in the market [2] - SaaS applications are integrating intelligent agents and chat interfaces, which will enhance user engagement and performance metrics [2][3] - Monetization strategies are evolving, with tiered user models and consumption-based models expected to merge as AI capabilities improve [3] Group 4: Future Outlook and Investment - The company is satisfied with the return on investment from capital expenditures, which are directly related to contract delivery, and is focused on accumulating orders and expanding business capacity [7] - The relationship between capital expenditures and Azure growth rates is expected to evolve, with ongoing investments necessary to meet increasing demand [7] - The company emphasizes the importance of software in enhancing hardware performance, indicating that software skills will drive significant returns [8]

Core Insights - Microsoft has expanded its data center footprint to over 400 sites in 70 regions and introduced a sovereign cloud offering, expecting to spend $30 billion in capital expenditures in Q1 to meet AI infrastructure demand [1][8][14] - Azure revenue reached a record $75 billion for the year, with a 34% increase in annual revenue, driven by demand for cloud and AI services [2][4][5] Financial Performance - Microsoft reported higher-than-expected revenue and earnings growth in its fiscal fourth quarter, with net income of $27.2 billion, or $3.65 per share, a 24% increase year-over-year [9][10] - Total revenue for the fiscal year was $281.7 billion, up 15%, with net income of $101.8 billion and earnings per share of $13.64, a 16% increase [14] Business Unit Growth - Nearly all business units experienced double-digit percentage growth, with productivity and business processes revenue rising 16% to $33.1 billion [4][12] - Microsoft 365 Commercial cloud revenue increased by 18%, and the company added a record number of new Copilot customers during the quarter [12] Cloud and AI Services - Microsoft's cloud revenues, including Azure and other services, totaled $168 billion for the year, up 23% year-over-year [5] - Azure AI remains a key priority, with 57% of CIOs expecting to use Azure OpenAI Services and 31% planning to use GitHub Copilot in the next 12 months [7] Market Position and Future Outlook - Morgan Stanley analysts predict continued robust growth for Azure, with 52% of CIOs indicating their application workloads are in Azure [6] - Microsoft expects continued double-digit growth in revenue and operating income in fiscal 2026, supported by strong demand for cloud and AI [14]

Look at that move in the price. Yeah, Josh, you're seeing a big move in Meta there. Shares up almost 9%.So, I want to just hit the high level numbers here for you first. So, in that second quarter, Meta reporting adjusted earnings per share of $7.14%. That was against a street estimate of 5.89%.So, pretty significant beat there. Then you move over to Meta's Q3 guidance. That also coming in better than expected at least up from a sales perspective.Meta guiding for a range of 47.5% billion to 50.5% billion. S ...

Financial Performance - Microsoft's FY25 Q4 revenue reached $76.4 billion, an increase of 18% year-over-year (17% in constant currency) [4] - The company's gross margin was $52.4 billion, up 16% year-over-year (15% in constant currency) [4] - Operating income amounted to $34.3 billion, reflecting a 23% increase year-over-year (22% in constant currency) [4] - Net income reached $27.2 billion, a 24% increase year-over-year (22% in constant currency) [4] - Diluted earnings per share were $3.65, up 24% year-over-year (22% in constant currency) [4] Segment Performance - Productivity and Business Processes revenue was $33.1 billion, up 16% year-over-year (14% in constant currency) [4] - Intelligent Cloud revenue reached $29.9 billion, a 26% increase year-over-year (25% in constant currency) [4] - More Personal Computing revenue was $13.5 billion, up 9% year-over-year (9% in constant currency) [4] Cloud and Commercial Business - Microsoft Cloud revenue was $46.7 billion, up 27% year-over-year (25% in constant currency) [5, 7] - Commercial bookings increased by 37% year-over-year (30% in constant currency) [5, 7] - Commercial remaining performance obligation reached $368 billion, up 37% year-over-year (35% in constant currency) [5, 7] - Microsoft 365 Commercial cloud revenue grew 18% (up 16% CC) [9, 11, 19] Other Financial Highlights - The company returned $9.4 billion to shareholders, including $6.2 billion in dividends and $3.2 billion in share repurchases [8]

Microsoft said its Azure cloud-computing unit generated more than $75 billion during the 2025 fiscal year, the first time the company has put a dollar figure on a critical business it has spent more than a decade building https://t.co/LpcjZp5HHV ...

Core Viewpoint - Microsoft Inc. is set to report earnings, with expectations of a gain of $3.35 per share and revenue of $73.71 billion, while the Whisper number suggests a gain of $3.51 per share [4]. Financial Performance - Microsoft has shown consistent earnings growth over the years, with earnings per share increasing from $5.76 in 2020 to $11.80 in 2024, and projected to reach $13.42 in 2025 and $15.21 in 2026 [5]. - The current price-to-earnings ratio stands at 40, which is 1.7 times that of the S&P 500 [5]. Technical Analysis - The stock has recently reached a record high of just above $518 per share and is trading above its 50 and 200-day moving averages, indicating strong technical performance [6]. - Post-earnings, the market is anticipating a potential gap up if results are strong, or a gap down if results disappoint [6]. Business Segments - Microsoft operates through several segments, including Productivity and Business Processes, which offers services like Microsoft Teams and LinkedIn [7][8]. - The Intelligent Cloud segment provides cloud services such as Azure and enterprise solutions [8]. - The More Personal Computing segment includes Windows operating systems, Xbox gaming, and related services [9][10]. Sales Channels - The company sells its products through OEMs, distributors, resellers, and directly via digital marketplaces and retail stores [11].

Financial Performance - Q2 2025 - Revenues reached $5 billion with 2% organic growth[10] - Organic orders grew by 3% year-over-year[10] - Adjusted EBIT was $729 million with a 14.6% margin, a decrease of 80 bps year-over-year[10] - Adjusted EPS was $1.06, a 6% increase year-over-year[10] - Free cash flow was $7 million, an increase of $189 million year-over-year[10] Segment Results - Q2 2025 - Imaging revenues were $2.204 billion, with organic revenue growth of 1%[16] - Advanced Visualization Solutions (AVS) revenues were $1.289 billion, with organic revenue growth of 2%[20] - Patient Care Solutions (PCS) revenues were $778 million, with organic revenue flat at 0%[24] - Pharmaceutical Diagnostics (PDx) revenues were $729 million, with organic revenue growth of 5%[29] Outlook and Tariffs - The company is raising its 2025 Adjusted EPS guidance to $4.43 - $4.63[9, 40] - The company expects a net tariff impact of approximately $265 million, or ~$0.45 per share[40] - The company has mitigated approximately 50% of gross tariffs[39] - The company is updating its 2025 organic revenue growth outlook to ~3%[44] - The company is updating its 2025 Adjusted EBIT Margin to 15.2% - 15.4%[44] - The company is updating its 2025 Free Cash Flow to at least $1.4 billion[44]

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Technology - Cloud Computing segment of the equity market, the Global X Cloud Computing ETF (CLOU) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on April 12, 2019.While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to ...