In a recent announcement, Microsoft has unveiled its financial results for the first quarter of the 2024 fiscal year. The tech giant reported a substantial revenue of $56.5 billion, accompanied by a net income of $22.3 billion for Q1. This marks a notable surge, with revenue up by 13% and net income experiencing a substantial 27% boost.
While the Devices segment faced some challenges this quarter, with a slight recovery observed in the Windows division, the cloud services and Office suite saw notable growth. Microsoft’s Cloud revenue surged to an impressive $31.8 billion, exhibiting a remarkable 24% year-over-year growth.
Growth in productivity and business processes
The Productivity and Business Processes segment demonstrated robust performance, achieving a revenue of $18.6 billion and a commendable 13% increase. Within this category, Office Commercial products and cloud services revenue experienced a substantial 15% growth, primarily propelled by an 18% surge in Office 365 Commercial revenue.
Additionally, Office Consumer products and cloud services revenue saw a 3% increase, with Microsoft 365 Consumer subscribers reaching an impressive 76.7 million. LinkedIn revenue also experienced a notable 8% upswing. Dynamics products and cloud services revenue soared by an impressive 22%, driven by a substantial 28% growth in Dynamics 365 revenue.
Intelligent Cloud segment continues to thrive
The Intelligent Cloud segment maintained its upward trajectory, recording a revenue of $24.3 billion, signifying a noteworthy 19% increase. Server products and cloud services revenue within this category observed a significant 21% rise, propelled by 29% surge in Azure and other cloud services revenue.
More Personal Computing segment shows steady growth
The More Personal Computing segment demonstrated steady progress, achieving a revenue of $13.7 billion, reflecting a 3% increase. Notable highlights within this category included a 5% increase in Windows revenue, with Windows OEM revenue witnessing a 4% growth, and Windows Commercial products and cloud services revenue experiencing an 8% surge. However, the Devices segment experienced a 22% decrease. On a positive note, Xbox content and services revenue saw a commendable 13% increase, while Search and news advertising revenue (excluding traffic acquisition costs) recorded a substantial 10% growth.
Earnings Per Share
The adjusted earnings per share (EPS) exceeded expectations, reaching $2.99, compared to the anticipated $2.66 per share. This represents a significant improvement from the adjusted EPS of $2.35 reported during the same quarter in the previous year.
Microsoft returned $9.1 billion through share repurchases and dividends in the first quarter fiscal year 2024.
Market response
As Microsoft released its financial results, its shares surged by over 3% in early trading on Wednesday. The company attributed this surge to higher-than-expected AI consumption, which greatly bolstered its cloud business.
“With copilots, we are making the age of AI real for people and businesses everywhere,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft. “We are rapidly infusing AI across every layer of the tech stack and for every role and business process to drive productivity gains for our customers.”
With a consistent track record of delivering innovative products and services, Microsoft continues to invest significantly in research and development, ensuring customers benefit from enhanced productivity and security. This quarter witnessed major product releases across various sectors, including Microsoft 365 services, Gaming, Dynamics 365, Microsoft Teams, Windows, Microsoft Power Platform, Microsoft Cloud, Azure, Search, Advertising, and more. These developments not only accelerate innovation across Microsoft’s businesses but also expand market opportunities for the future.
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