Microsoft profits soar days after announcing thousands of layoffs — SkimNews
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- Microsoft reported that profits for the three months to the end of September jumped to more than $36.6bn (£27.5bn).
- Microsoft posted quarterly revenue of $92.3bn, up 19% from a year earlier on strong cloud-computing growth; Microsoft Cloud revenue rose 30% and lifted earnings.
- Satya Nadella said AI development had helped grow adoption and delivered “real-world impact across every industry.”
- Microsoft said it would offer buyouts to around 60,000 employees to cut costs and reduce its workforce by more than a quarter as it pours billions into AI; it employs more than 220,000 people worldwide.
- Microsoft extended the voluntary redundancy offer to eligible teams across Canada, India, the UK and the US, providing financial support and career-planning resources.
- Microsoft shares rose almost 2.9% in after-hours trading in New York on Wednesday.
- Alphabet reported a 25% drop in quarterly net profit and saw its shares fall 9.75%, contrasting with Microsoft as Alphabet said it would continue heavy AI spending.
Why it matters: Investors rewarded Microsoft’s stronger-than-expected results even as it announced plans for about 60,000 buyouts: its shares rose almost 2.9% after 19% revenue growth, while Alphabet’s fell 9.75% after a 25% profit drop. The divergence came as both companies maintained heavy AI spending, and Microsoft paired that investment with workforce reductions.
Ask SkimNews
