Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) reported impressive financial results for its third quarter of the fiscal year 2024, surpassing analysts' revenue forecasts with a strong performance. The tech giant generated $61.9 billion in revenue, marking a significant 17% increase from the previous year.
Microsoft's net income also saw an impressive growth of 20%, reaching $21.9 billion, while Earnings Per Share (EPS) increased by the same percentage to $2.94 per share.
The company's operating income grew by 23% to $27.6 billion, and Microsoft Cloud revenue reached a new milestone of $35.1 billion, reflecting a 23% increase year-over-year.
Microsoft's Productivity and Business Processes segment reported revenue of $19.6 billion, up 12% year-over-year, while the Intelligent Cloud segment saw revenue growth of 20%. The More Personal Computing segment also experienced a revenue increase of 8%.
Microsoft's strong financial performance was driven by its continued investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud services. The company has been expanding its AI capabilities, including the hiring of Mustafa Suleyman to run a new Microsoft AI group and the launch of GitHub Copilot with 1.8 million paid subscribers.
Microsoft's Azure cloud computing business continues to grow rapidly, with revenue increasing by over 20% year-over-year. The company has also been signing high-profile deals, such as a five-year, $1.1bn contract with Coca-Cola for AI and cloud computing services in Q3 of 2024.
Despite the strong financial results, Microsoft's stock price saw a slight increase in after-hours trading due to concerns over potential layoffs and competition from rivals like Amazon, Apple Silicon, Nintendo Switch, and Sony PlayStation.