Microsoft makes more than US$36.6 billion in profit and offers severance packages to 60,000 employees
Revenue rises 19% and the cloud grows 30%, but the company continues to spend heavily on AI, and investors are evaluating whether this return will come.
BY THE X-TRADER NEWS NEWSROOM · REPORTING FROM BBC BUSINESS · 2 MIN
Microsoft's profit reached more than US$36.6 billion in the quarter ended in September, and the result came just days after the company announced a plan to reduce its headcount by more than a quarter. According to BBC Business, the number shows that the company managed to grow while tightening costs, a combination that the market had been demanding.
On Monday, the Windows developer said it would offer severance packages to about 60,000 employees in an effort to contain expenses while directing billions of dollars toward artificial intelligence. In other words, the movement is not just a cut: it is a change of priorities within the cost structure.
Quarterly revenue totaled US$92.3 billion, up 19% compared to a year earlier, driven by the strong advance in cloud computing. The Microsoft Cloud line, which brings together technology services for companies, had 30% higher revenue, and it was this business that sustained the improvement in results.
In New York after-market trading on Wednesday, shares rose about 2.9%, according to the BBC. At the same time, the company listed financial risks, including “substantial investments” in AI, in addition to other uncertainties that could affect the accounts.
The Microsoft case fits into a bigger picture. According to the BBC, Amazon, Meta and Alphabet are expected to spend more than US$700 billion this year on chips and infrastructure, such as data centers. The question that permeates the earnings season is whether this volume of investment will yield enough to justify it, and each quarterly result becomes a test of this thesis.
What changes for the investor
For MarketWatch, the central point is that Microsoft has shown the ability to grow quickly without losing control over spending. For those who value fiscal discipline and cash generation, this is the type of signal that weighs on company valuations. The practical effect tends to be a closer look at operational efficiency, and not just the size of AI investments. The risks linked to these expenses remain on the radar, and the next balance sheets should show whether the equation is sustainable.
Automatically translated from Portuguese.
