This year, Microsoft laid off roughly 25,000 employees. It clearly did not do so based on its quarterly figures, which were once again impressive for Q4 of the financial year.
The figures, which were reported yesterday, contain a unique piece of information. For the first time, Microsoft has announced exactly how much revenue its Azure division generated, namely $108 billion in 2024. For this year, the company is forecasting $117 billion in revenue. As Neowin points out, this is about 36 percent less than market leader AWS, but on a growth trajectory. It is therefore possible that Azure could overtake AWS in terms of revenue by 2029. Obviously, there is still a big difference, but it is easy to see why Microsoft is now keen to report the Azure figures separately.
Good quarter (for those still working at Microsoft)
This quarter, Azure even grew by 34 percent in terms of revenue. To emphasize how much of a change of course this report is for Microsoft, it used to be guesswork when it came to Azure’s exact revenue because it was grouped within the Intelligent Cloud division. This also includes Dynamics 365, SQL Server, Windows Server, Visual Studio, and more. As a result, it was only possible to determine Azure’s revenue on a sporadic basis.
Spread across all divisions, Microsoft’s total net profit is $27.2 billion. With a round of layoffs for 2025 that will see 9,000 jobs cut this month and 25,000 over the year as a whole, this combination of facts is somewhat striking. Microsoft, like many other companies, is throwing all its eggs in the AI basket, leading CEO Satya Nadella to believe that fewer people will be needed within the company to make that AI initiative a success.
Microsoft certainly faces significant challenges. Although it is at an advanced stage with OpenAI to continue using the AI specialist’s models, it has relatively little to offer when it comes to LLMs or its own AI solutions. Copilot is largely built on OpenAI technology, which is also where the AI assistance within Microsoft’s offering takes place. Whereas competitor Google, for example, has developed and continues to develop a strong offering of its own, this remains a puzzle for Microsoft.
Shares rise slightly
Based on the news, Microsoft’s market value has risen further. After the stock market closed, all of the company’s shares were worth more than $4 trillion. Only GPU maker Nvidia has previously reached this amount.
Read also: 24,000 layoffs at Intel, no new factories in Europe