Microsoft reported record revenue of $62bn (£49bn) on the back of strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud technologies, marking its newly regained position as the world’s most valuable company. He helped strengthen it.
The tech company’s revenue rose 18% in the final three months of 2023, marking its fifth straight quarter, and profits rose 33%. Revenue from the hot cloud sector increased 24% year over year.
Microsoft stock initially fell following the results, but recovered in subsequent market trading. The results come after recent stock price gains have seen Microsoft overtake Apple as the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, with its market capitalization reaching $3 trillion for the first time earlier this month.
The tech giant has been on the rise since making an initial investment in ChatGPT maker OpenAI, and the deal increased internal AI hype.
“By bringing AI to every layer of our technology stack, we are winning new customers and driving new benefits and productivity improvements across all sectors,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. ”.
Meanwhile, rival Google also reported a 13% increase in revenue to $86.3 billion in the last three months of 2023. Google is embroiled in a battle with Microsoft to capitalize on demand for AI products. But shares in Google’s parent company, Alphabet, fell nearly 5% after the company’s ad revenue fell short of Wall Street expectations.
While Microsoft is adding AI assistants like CoPilot to its Windows software, Google has launched a new digital chatbot known as Gemini for developers and Android smartphones.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said, “We have entered the Age of Gemini, and the best is yet to come.”
Despite soaring sales, Microsoft continues to cut jobs, recently announcing plans to lay off 1,900 staff in its gaming division after acquiring Activision Blizzard, the maker of Call of Duty.
Meanwhile, Google incurred $1.8 billion in office space reduction costs in its most recent quarter, cut thousands of jobs last year, and cut another 1,000 jobs this month.
Layoffs continue across the technology industry. Late Tuesday, PayPal announced it would cut 2,000 jobs, or 7% of its workforce.
Microsoft has once again become the world’s most valuable company, helped by Apple’s recent woes. The company is facing a downgrade from market analysts due to concerns about demand for the latest iPhones.
The company’s latest device turned out to be less interesting than expected, and sales in China have stagnated. Apple is scheduled to report its latest financial results on Thursday.