Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella arrives at federal court in Washington on Oct. 2, 2023.
Nathan Howard | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Microsoft shares rose 5% in extended trading on Thursday after the software maker issued fiscal third-quarter results that outdid Wall Street’s expectations.
Here’s how the company did in comparison with the consensus from LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $2.94 vs. $2.82 expected
- Revenue: $61.86 vs. $60.80 billion expected
Microsoft’s total revenue grew 17% year over year in the quarter, which ended on March 31, according to a statement. Net income, at $21.94 billion, or $2.94 per share, was up from $18.30 billion, or $2.45 per share in the year-ago quarter.
Revenue from Azure and other cloud services grew 31%, compared with 30% in the previous quarter. Analysts polled by CNBC had expected 28.8%, while the StreetAccount consensus was 28.6%.
During the quarter, Microsoft introduced Surface PCs with a key for quickly accessing the Copilot chatbot. The company started selling access to the Copilot for small businesses with Microsoft 365 productivity software subscriptions and hired Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of artificial intelligence lab DeepMind, to run a new Microsoft AI group. Suleyman had been co-founder and CEO of startup Inflection, and many of its employees also joined Microsoft.
“We have been operating with speed and intensity and this infusion of new talent will enable us to accelerate our pace yet again,” CEO Satya Nadella wrote in a memo about the Inflection deal, which was reportedly worth $650 million.
This marks the first full quarter for sales of the Copilot add-on for commercial Microsoft 365 customers. In a note on Sunday, analysts at Piper Sandler warned clients not to expect many financial details from Microsoft.
So far this year, Microsoft stock is up 4%, while the S&P 500 index has gained about 5%.
Executives will go over the results and issue guidance on a conference call with analysts starting at 5:30 p.m. ET.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
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