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Here’s what to look for in today’s Microsoft earnings report

All eyes will be on Microsoft’s Azure cloud revenue growth, and just how much it’s increasing its capital expenditure.

1/28/26 12:12PM

Today after market close, Microsoft will report its second-quarter earnings. Demand for the company’s Azure AI cloud computing is white-hot, and the company can’t keep up. All eyes will be watching Azure’s revenue growth, which analysts expect to be around 38.4%.

Let’s take a look at some of the other areas worth watching.

Signs of slackening demand for AI?

With gargantuan data centers popping up all over and seemingly insatiable demand for more AI infrastructure, fears of an AI bubble persist. Last month, reports emerged that Microsoft had lowered internal AI growth targets due to weak customer demand. We’ll be looking to hear what CEO Satya Nadella has to say about this.

Cozying up to Anthropic

Over the past quarter, Microsoft has been drawing closer to its partner Anthropic. Yes, Microsoft has a huge $13 billion deal with OpenAI, but recently it has been using Anthropic’s AI tools more in its own products, and Nadella has been encouraging more employees to use AI in their work.

It was recently reported that Microsoft was on track to spend $500 million per year on Anthropic AI services. Microsoft also recently invested another $5 billion in Anthropic, along with Nvidia.

But Microsoft is also reportedly spooked about how well Anthropic’s Claude Cowork tool is able to work with Microsoft’s own apps, eclipsing the performance of its own Copilot 365 tool.

Data centers and capex

Microsoft’s data center build-out got some attention from President Trump, as the company pledged to pay its own way for the electricity it uses and to be a good neighbor. But according to internal documents, The New York Times reports that water usage at the company’s data center has doubled.

Last quarter, Microsoft revised its capex outlook and said it will be spending more in FY 2026 to help catch up on its massive $392 billion backlog of booked computing. Microsoft also recently announced huge investments in AI infrastructure in Canada ($13.7 billion) and India ($17 billion).

Look as well for more info about Microsoft’s custom chips. This week, the company announced that its new second-generation Maia 200 AI chip delivers “30% higher performance than alternatives for the same price.”

Microsoft sits at the center of the sprawling tech world, and has unique visibility on how AI uptake is going in both the consumer and enterprise world. It also sees what AI computing demand looks like on the back end through its popular Azure cloud computing platform serving customers large and small. This quarter’s earnings release should offer some valuable signals about where we are in the AI boom.

Rani Molla

Meta posts an earnings and revenue beat — and a huge capex bill

The social media giant reported earnings after the bell Wednesday.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg visits U.S. Capitol for Senate meetings

Rani Molla, Nate Becker

Alphabet jumps as Q1 earnings and revenue blow past expectations

The search giant also boosted its capex forecast for the year and said it expects 2027 capex to be “significantly” higher than 2026.

Rani Molla9h

SpaceX filings reportedly show no one can fire Elon Musk except Elon Musk

The only thing stopping Elon Musk from being chairman and CEO of SpaceX is Elon Musk, according to Reuters, which viewed an excerpt of the company’s IPO filing.

The document outlines a dual-class share structure giving Musk control via super-voting stock. The filing says he “can only be removed from our board or these positions by the vote of Class B holders” — shares he’ll control after the listing. It adds that if he keeps those shares, he could “continue to control the election and removal of a majority of our board.”

At a typical public company — even founder-led ones with dual-class structures — a CEO can be fired by the board of directors, which represents shareholders and can vote to remove them over issues such as corporate performance, strategy, or misconduct.

The unusual SpaceX setup means Musk is unlikely to face the kind of CEO succession pressure he’s dealt with at Tesla. Musk, of course, is not a typical CEO, and the value of his companies has long been closely tied to his presence.

To be sure, SpaceX’s confidential IPO filing isn’t in its final form yet — while the filing is still in the confidential phase, the company will be going back and forth with the SEC, which will review it and suggest or require changes.

Exclusive: Only Elon Musk can fire Elon Musk from SpaceX, filing shows

Rani Molla4/28/26

OpenAI’s models are officially coming to Amazon

Amazon is finally getting in on the hottest ticket in tech.

After Microsoft announced yesterday that it has agreed to give up its exclusive rights to sell OpenAI’s models, Amazon, as expected, will start offering them to customers — something Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman says users have been asking for “for a really long time.” Some models are available now in preview, and the most powerful GPT versions will show up “in the coming weeks.”

This is a big shift in the AI cloud wars. Microsoft’s early bet on OpenAI gave Azure an edge by locking up the most in-demand models. Now that exclusivity is gone, Amazon and other competitors can finally offer them too, closing a key gap and competing more directly for AI customers.

Amazon Set to Sell OpenAI Tech After Microsoft Cedes Exclusivity

Claire Yubin Oh4/28/26

Ship-tracking app surges as Iran war continues

As Middle East peace talks stretch on, with Tehran reportedly offering to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the US lifts its blockade and the war ends, the owner of shipping intelligence platform MarineTraffic revealed that the app has gained millions of new users since the conflict began.

MarineTraffic’s user count jumped to 8.5 million this April, up from 3.5 million a year ago, the cofounder of its parent company, Kpler, said in an interview with the Financial Times. Paid subscribers, often workers within companies and governments looking for more data on supply chains and commodities trading, rose 11,000 in the same period.

Kpler, which also owns shipping intelligence platform FleetMon, draws its data from a range of sources, including the Automatic Identification System, satellites, and more than 500 people on-site, like port terminal operators.

Per Appfigures data, MarineTraffic is estimated to have raked in almost $1 million across March and April in app revenue (through April 27), more than double the ~$346,500 from the same months last year. Across the full year, Kpler expects to earn between $300 million and $400 million in annual recurring revenues.