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Jon Keegan

Microsoft earnings blow past estimates, shares up 6.5% after-hours

Shares of Microsoft spiked more than 6.5% after the company beat earnings expectations. The tech giant reported revenue of $70.1 billion, up 13% year on year. Diluted earnings per share were $3.46, easily beating FactSet’s analyst consensus of $3.22.

Net income was $25.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18%. Analysts were expecting $24 billion.

Breaking down the results by the company’s businesses:

  • ☁️ 🤖 “Intelligent Cloud” (Azure, server products): $26.8 billion in revenue, up 21% year on year

  • 📝 📊 “Productivity and Business Processes” (Microsoft 365, LinkedIn, Dynamics): $29.9 billion in revenue, up 10% year on year

  • 💻 🎮 “More Personal Computing” (Windows, Xbox, Bing): $13.4 billion in revenue, up 6% year on year

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said:

“Cloud and AI are the essential inputs for every business to expand output, reduce costs, and accelerate growth. From AI infra and platforms to apps, we are innovating across the stack to deliver for our customers.”

Capital expenditures for the quarter were $16.7 billion, up 52% year on year. Analysts were expecting $16.2 billion.

Over the past few months, the industry has watched Microsoft closely as reports said the company was canceling leases for data centers, including pausing some projects mid-development.

A retreat by Microsoft — which has $14 billion invested in OpenAI — could signal an oversupply of AI computing resources, sending a chill throughout the industry.

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Ford raises its full-year guidance, receives $1.3 billion tariff refund

Ford reported its first-quarter results after markets closed on Wednesday. The automaker’s shares climbed roughly 7% in after-hours trading on the news.

For Q1, Ford reported:

  • Adjusted earnings of $0.66 per share, compared to the $0.18 per share expected by Wall Street analysts polled by FactSet. The figure includes Ford’s tariff reimbursement.

  • $43.25 in total revenue, vs. the $42.66 billion consensus forecast. Automotive revenue came in at $39.8 billion, compared to estimates of $38.9 billion.

  • A $1.3 billion tariff refund.

Ford boosted its full-year guidance for adjusted earnings before interest and taxes to between $8.5 billion and $10.5 billion, up from between $8 billion and $10 billion.

Late last year, Ford announced it would take $19.5 billion in charges — one of the largest write-downs ever — relating mostly to its EV business. Of those charges, $7 billion will be spread across this year and next, the company said.

Earlier this month, Ford recorded an 8.8% drop in Q1 sales from the same period last year, a similar result to Detroit rival GM, which posted a 9.7% sales drop.

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Microsoft beats on revenue and earnings in Q3, but only meets expectations for cloud growth

Microsoft shares dipped after the company reported strong Q3 earnings postmarket Wednesday, posting ​​sales of $82.9 billion for the quarter, beating FactSet analyst estimates of $81.4 billion. Earnings per share were $4.27, handily beating estimates of $4.05. 

In a closely watched number, Microsoft’s Azure cloud business increased 40% year on year, just above the 39.7% estimated. The metric technically beat expectations, but may not be the beat investors were looking for.

Total capital expenditure for the quarter was $31.9 billion, up 49% year on year, above estimates of $27.5 billion and down from Q2’s $37.5 billion.

One thing investors were eager to find out: how is the company doing in its effort to fulfill the billions in backlogged commercial bookings? Last quarter, the company reported a staggering $625 billion in remaining performance obligations, and 45% of that was for just one customer — OpenAI.

For the third quarter, Microsoft reported a backlog of $627 billion, up 99% year on year. The company said the RPO increase was 26% — in line with “historical seasonality” — when excluding OpenAI.

Breaking down the results by the company’s business lines:

  • ☁️ 🤖 Intelligent Cloud (Azure, server products): $34.7 billion in revenue, up 30% year on year.

  • 📝 📊 Productivity and Business Processes (Microsoft 365, LinkedIn, Dynamics): $35 billion in revenue, up 17% year on year.

  • 💻 🎮 More Personal Computing (Windows, Xbox, Bing): $13.2 billion in revenue, down 1% year on year.

Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said in the earnings release:

“We delivered results that exceeded expectations across revenue, operating income, and earnings per share, reflecting strong execution and growing demand for the Microsoft Cloud.”

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