Microsoft disclosed its latest quarterly profit surpassed $36.6 billion, approximately 1.23 trillion baht, driven strongly by its cloud business and demand for artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Total revenue grew 19% to reach $92.3 billion. This announcement came just days after the company offered incentive packages encouraging about 60,000 employees to voluntarily resign.
Microsoft, the U.S. technology giant, reported earnings for the quarter ending in September, posting profits exceeding $36.6 billion, or roughly 1.23 trillion baht, with total revenue at $92.3 billion, about 3.11 trillion baht. This represented a 19% increase from the same period last year and exceeded analysts' expectations of $90.6 billion in revenue and approximately $35.1 billion in profit.
The strong earnings were supported by the cloud computing business, where revenue from Microsoft Cloud services rose 30%, and Azure, the company's primary cloud platform, saw revenue growth of 48% during the quarter.
Microsoft's stock price rose in trading after the New York Stock Exchange closed. One report noted shares increased nearly 2.9%, while another indicated a surge of over 5% following the earnings release, reflecting positive investor response to higher-than-expected revenue and profits.
However, this earnings report came just days after the company announced a voluntary layoff program offering severance and career planning assistance to about 60,000 eligible employees in teams across Canada, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States to adjust workforce size and structure in line with changing demand.
Microsoft stated the program aims to increase operational flexibility and provide financial support and career guidance to employees who volunteer to leave. As of the end of June, the company had approximately 223,000 employees worldwide, down from 228,000 at the end of 2025.
This marks the company's second voluntary layoff program this year, following an opportunity offered in April for about 7% of its U.S. workforce to take early retirement.
Microsoft and other major technology firms are investing heavily in developing AI infrastructure, including processing chips, data centers, and cloud systems, amid investor questions about whether such high spending will yield adequate returns.
Data from FactSet shows analysts expect Microsoft to incur about $51 billion in total expenses from July to September, while the company revealed that spending on land, buildings, and equipment nearly doubled to $39 billion compared to the same period last year.
Satya Nadella, Microsoft's CEO, said the company is enhancing its service capabilities, offering customers more choices, control, and improved cost efficiency. He also stated that AI development expands technology adoption and creates tangible impacts across various industries.
Nadella told analysts that in the past quarter, the company opened 24 new data centers worldwide to support increased processing demand.
Amy Hood, Microsoft's Chief Financial Officer, disclosed that the company spent $45.2 billion in capital expenditures during the quarter, with about three-quarters invested in short-lived assets such as memory chips and storage devices.
The company expects capital expenditures in the final quarter of 2026 to exceed $50 billion, potentially bringing total spending for the year to $170 billion.
Hood also said the company is prepared to access additional financing when appropriate to supplement cash flow from operations and maintain financial flexibility.
Microsoft is competing with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Alphabet, Google's parent company, in the global cloud computing market. According to Synergy Research Group, AWS remains the world's largest cloud service provider by revenue in the second quarter of this year, followed by Microsoft and Google.
However, Google's cloud business is growing rapidly, with revenue doubling in the latest quarter to $30.7 billion, approaching Azure's revenue of $33.2 billion during the same period.
Major technology companies are expected to collectively spend over $700 billion this year on AI chips and infrastructure such as data centers, with many beginning to rely on fundraising and borrowing to support business expansion.
Previously, Alphabet raised $85 billion through equity offerings to support AI data center expansion. Meanwhile, Meta, Facebook's parent company, announced plans on Monday to raise $35 billion via stock sales to invest in AI as well.
Meta's fundraising comes as California prepares to vote in November on whether to approve a temporary wealth tax on billionaires residing in the state. Reports indicate that part of the stock sale is a financial strategy related to efforts to keep Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in California.
While Microsoft's earnings exceeded expectations, Alphabet faced investor pressure after reporting a 25% year-over-year drop in quarterly net profit and reaffirmed high AI investment levels, causing its stock to fall 9.75% following the Wednesday earnings release.
Amazon is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on 29 Oct 2026 GMT+7. Investors will closely watch revenue figures and AI investment plans to assess how this technology competition will generate returns.