Microsoft released its latest quarterly earnings on Tuesday, beating analyst expectations for sales and earnings per share.
The company's revenue increased 7% to $52.86B from $49.36B a year ago.
- While the revenue growth was above estimates, it marked the second straight quarter of growth below double-digit percentages.
- Per-share earnings of $2.45 were well above estimates of $2.23.
- Revenue for Microsoft's Azure and other cloud-computing services was up 27%, a deceleration from prior years.
- The company also saw an 8% jump in LinkedIn revenue from the prior year.
- On the PC side, Windows revenue from computer makers was down 28%.
- As of market close Tuesday, Microsoft’s market capitalization stood at $2.05 trillion, higher than Google parent Alphabet's $1.36 trillion.
- Microsoft has been locked in an AI race with Google. The former has seen its shares rise since it introduced ChatGPT technology into its Bing search engine and other offerings this year.
- In January, ChatGPT maker OpenAI announced a $10B investment from Microsoft, which has seen Bing traffic climb over 15% since it incorporated ChatGPT.
- On Tuesday, Microsoft finance chief Amy Hood said the company will continue to invest in its cloud infrastructure, with an emphasis on AI-related spending, in an effort to meet demand.
