By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 18th, 2024
The impressive revenue performance was largely driven by the Microsoft Cloud segment.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) shares closed Tuesday trading at $350.98, up 1.70 percent from the day’s opening price. The gains were, however, obliterated during the extended trading session after MSFT shares slipped approximately 3.7 percent. The sudden dip in Microsoft shares was attributed to mixed reactions in regard to the financial year 2023 Q4 earnings results. Notably, the tech giant topped analysts’ expectations in the fourth quarter that ended on 30, 2023, but fell short of Wall Street consensus in regards to first-quarter revenue.
Microsoft Q4 2023 Financial Results and Market Outlook
For Q4 2023, Microsoft announced that its revenue came in at $56.2 billion, an uptick of about 8 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago. Notably, analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected the company to report revenue of about $55.47 billion. Additionally, the company announced that its earnings per share for Q4 2023 were $2.69 compared to analysts’ forecast of $2.55 according to a survey conducted by Refinitiv.
The company announced that its operating income for the fourth quarter was about $24.3 billion, which accounted for an 18 percent increment compared to the same quarter in the previous financial year. As a result, the company’s net income for the fourth quarter was about $20.1 billion, an increase of around 20 percent compared to the same time a year ago.
The company noted that it remains focused on delivering its fast and seamless artificial intelligence (AI) products amid heightened demand from organizations.
“Organizations are asking not only how – but how fast – they can apply this next generation of AI to address the biggest opportunities and challenges they face – safely and responsibly,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft. “We remain focused on leading the new AI platform shift, helping customers use the Microsoft Cloud to get the most value out of their digital spend, and driving operating leverage.”
The impressive revenue performance was largely driven by the Microsoft Cloud segment that reported $30.3 billion, up approximately 21 percent from the same time a year ago. Notably, LinkedIn revenue increased by five percent during the fourth quarter. The company’s Office Commercial products and cloud services revenue increased by 12 percent. Additionally, the company’s revenue in Intelligent Cloud was $24.0 billion, an increase of about 15 percent.
Notably, the company announced revenue in More Personal Computing was $13.9 billion after a decline of about 4 percent. By the end of the fourth quarter, Microsoft had made a $9.7 billion share buyback. During a conference call with analysts, Amy Hood, Microsoft’s finance chief, announced a forecast of about $53.8 billion to $54.8 billion in fiscal first-quarter revenue, which ostensibly fell short of analysts’ expectation of about $54.94 billion.