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Microsoft reported Azure revenue of $33.2 billion for the July-September quarter, a dollar figure it had not previously disclosed on a quarterly basis. The figure was up 48% year over year and slightly exceeded Google Cloud’s reported $30.7 billion, though the services do not have identical boundaries and Google Cloud grew faster, according to TechCrunch’s comparison.
Microsoft reported Azure revenue of $33.2 billion for the July-September quarter on Wednesday, October 28, disclosing a quarterly dollar figure it had not previously provided. Azure revenue rose 48% year over year, giving investors a more direct measure for comparison with cloud businesses such as Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services.
The $33.2 billion figure was about $850 million above analysts’ expectations, according to TechCrunch. It also exceeded Microsoft chief financial officer Amy Hood’s July forecast that Azure growth would be between 44% and 45%. Microsoft reported the dollar amount alongside its growth rate in results for the July-September period.
Alphabet reported Google Cloud revenue of $30.7 billion for the same quarter. That puts Azure ahead by reported revenue, but the figures are not a like-for-like measure of growth: Google Cloud also includes Google Workspace subscriptions. TechCrunch calculated that Google Cloud’s revenue roughly doubled from a year earlier, about twice Azure’s growth rate. Amazon was due to report its earnings on Thursday, with AWS figures still pending in the source report.
Azure sits within Microsoft’s new Agents and Infra reporting segment. That segment, which also groups in Microsoft 365’s cloud business, generated $76.8 billion in revenue, up 25% year over year. The segment total is not Azure revenue alone; Microsoft’s separately reported Azure figure is $33.2 billion.
A Clearer Measure of Azure’s Scale
Azure’s dollar disclosure changes what investors and readers can compare directly. Microsoft had generally described the cloud business through percentage growth or broad revenue milestones, while Amazon and Alphabet report cloud revenue in dollars each quarter. The new figure lets investors place Azure’s reported sales alongside those rivals’ results without estimating Azure revenue from Microsoft’s wider business totals.
The quarter’s figures show Azure slightly ahead of Google Cloud in reported revenue, but not necessarily in every measure of performance. Azure grew 48% year over year; Google Cloud’s reported growth was substantially higher, according to TechCrunch’s calculation, and its inclusion of Workspace means the businesses have different reporting boundaries. AWS results will add another point of comparison once Amazon reports. The figures matter to businesses and investors tracking where cloud demand and spending are concentrated, especially as providers compete to supply computing capacity for applications and AI systems.
Azure’s scale also matters within Microsoft itself. At about 36% of Microsoft’s $92.3 billion quarterly revenue, Azure is a major contributor to the company’s business, according to the source report. Microsoft described it as its largest and fastest-growing product line based on its own figures. That description should not be confused with a separate Azure growth comparison across all cloud providers.
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Microsoft Changes Its Segment Reporting
Microsoft has generally not published Azure’s quarterly revenue in dollars. Instead, it has given a growth percentage or described revenue milestones without specifying a full quarterly total. That left investors to compare Azure with cloud competitors using measures that did not line up as cleanly as the dollar figures reported by Amazon and Alphabet.
This quarter also brought a change to Microsoft’s segment structure. The company previously reported three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud and More Personal Computing. It introduced two new segments this quarter, including Agents and Infra, which combines Azure with Microsoft 365’s cloud business. The $76.8 billion segment result therefore covers more than Azure and should not be treated as a substitute for the newly disclosed Azure total.
Azure provides businesses with rented computing capacity to run applications and software services and to build and operate AI models. The reported results arrive as large cloud providers compete for spending on both established computing workloads and AI infrastructure. The source report said Amazon was scheduled to publish its results the following day, potentially adding AWS’s quarterly revenue and growth figures to the comparison.
“Azure brought in $33.2 billion in revenue for the July-September quarter, up 48% from a year earlier.”
— Microsoft
Comparisons Still Have Limits
The new disclosure does not make all cloud-provider revenue directly comparable. Google Cloud includes Workspace subscriptions, and the source report does not provide a detailed reconciliation of the services included in each provider’s cloud totals. The relative figures should be read as reported revenue, not as identical measures of cloud infrastructure sales.
Amazon’s AWS revenue and growth were not yet available in the source report; Amazon was scheduled to report on Thursday. The report also does not give a detailed breakdown of Azure’s $33.2 billion across AI workloads, other computing services or individual customer categories. Microsoft’s $76.8 billion Agents and Infra result includes Microsoft 365’s cloud business as well as Azure, so it cannot establish how much revenue came from either part on its own.
AWS Results Add Another Comparison
The next near-term development was Amazon’s earnings report, scheduled for Thursday, October 29, according to TechCrunch. AWS’s disclosed revenue and year-over-year growth would let investors compare the three providers’ reported quarterly performance, while keeping in mind that their segment definitions may differ.
Investors will also watch whether Microsoft continues to report Azure revenue in dollars in future quarters. Regular disclosure would make it easier to track Azure’s sales over time and compare results with rivals, but the source report does not say whether Microsoft has committed to publishing the figure every quarter.
Key Questions
How much revenue did Azure report?
Microsoft reported $33.2 billion in Azure revenue for the July-September quarter.
How fast did Azure revenue grow?
Azure revenue was up 48% year over year, according to Microsoft’s results. The source report says that exceeded CFO Amy Hood’s July forecast of 44% to 45% growth.
Was Azure larger than Google Cloud this quarter?
Azure’s reported revenue of $33.2 billion was above Google Cloud’s $30.7 billion for the same quarter. The services have different reporting boundaries: Google Cloud also includes Workspace subscriptions.
How does the $76.8 billion Agents and Infra figure relate to Azure?
Agents and Infra is a Microsoft reporting segment that includes Azure and Microsoft 365’s cloud business. Its $76.8 billion in revenue is a segment total, not Azure revenue alone.
Did Microsoft say it will report Azure revenue in dollars every quarter?
The source report says Microsoft disclosed the quarterly dollar figure this time, after previously relying on growth rates or less specific milestones. It does not establish whether the company will publish the figure every quarter going forward.
Source: techcrunch.com
