Azure posts $33.2 billion revenue, edging past Google Cloud

What Happened

Azure generated $33.2 billion in revenue in the July‑September quarter, a 48% rise from a year earlier, putting it just ahead of Google Cloud’s $30.7 billion for the same period. This is the first time Microsoft disclosed Azure earnings in dollars instead of only growth percentages. Azure provides businesses with computing power, software‑as‑a‑service and tools to build AI models. Microsoft previously reported cloud revenue only as a growth rate under its Intelligent Cloud segment.

Reaction

Azure now accounts for about 36% of Microsoft’s total quarterly revenue of $92.3 billion, making it the company’s largest and fastest‑growing product line. The $33.2 billion figure exceeded analysts’ $32.3 billion expectation by roughly $850 million. The growth also topped CFO Amy Hood’s forecast of 44‑45% for the cloud business. Google Cloud, which includes Workspace subscriptions, reported $30.7 billion and roughly doubled its revenue year‑on‑year, growing about twice as fast as Azure according to TechCrunch’s calculations. Analysts note that AWS remains the market leader, but the new data narrows the visibility gap.

Context

Microsoft reorganised its reporting this quarter, placing Azure in the new Agents and Infra segment together with Microsoft 365, which together posted $76.8 billion, up 25% year‑on‑year. The shift to dollar reporting lets investors line up Azure directly against Amazon Web Services, whose earnings are still reported only in percentages, sharpening the cloud‑competition race. The three‑segment model used before—Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud and More Personal Computing—has been replaced to highlight cloud and AI services.