Both Microsoft and Google have reported business growth in their latest results, with AI and cloud being a prime focus for their respective CEOs.
Microsoft has announced a 7% increase in annual sales to $212 billion, up to 30 June, 2023.
For the final quarter, sales reached $56.2 billion, up 8%. In the same period, the operating profit was $24.3 billion – an increase of 18% on the same quarter last time. Net profit was $20.1 billion, up 20%.
“Organisations are asking not only how, but how fast, they can apply this next generation of AI to address the biggest opportunities and challenges they face - safely and responsibly,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft. “We remain focused on leading the new AI platform shift, helping customers use the Microsoft Cloud to get the most value out of their digital spend, and driving operating leverage.”
“We delivered a solid close to the fiscal year driven by Microsoft Cloud quarterly revenue of $30.3 billion, up 21% year-over-year,” added Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft.
The operating profit for the year was $88.5 billion GAAP, an increase of 6%.
Over at Google, sales for the second quarter increased 7% to $74.6 billion, which was slower than the 13% second quarter growth a year ago. Both operating and net profits were higher than a year ago, at $21.8 billion and $18.3 billion, respectively.
Google Cloud sales for the quarter increased from $6.2 billion to $8 billion, and the unit turned a $395m operating profit this time, as opposed to a $590 loss last year.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, said: “There’s exciting momentum across our products and the company, which drove strong results this quarter. Our continued leadership in AI and our excellence in engineering and innovation are driving the next evolution of Search, and improving all our services.
“With 15 products that each serve half a billion people, and six that serve over two billion each, we have so many opportunities to deliver on our mission.”
