Microsoft has increased the rate of growth of income and gave a strong forecast.
Microsoft (MSFT) reported better fiscal fourth-quarter results than Wall Street had expected. Component shortages for Xbox and Surface by solid sales of Azure, software, and digital signage.
On Tuesday, Microsoft summarized the results of the fourth quarter and the entire financial year 2021 of the company, providing investors with a forecast for the first quarter of the new economy. Of the year.
Microsoft’s numbers beat analyst averages, showing strong growth in its vital software services and cloud computing segments.
A slight decrease in revenues from sales of Xbox and video game content (-4%) and a decline in revenues (-3%) from sales of Windows software licenses to consumer
PC makers by a substantial 53% growth from digital advertising.
Microsoft’s revenue growth has accelerated over the past three quarters, and the company has topped analysts’ estimates for ten consecutive quarters.
Microsoft Q4 Reporting
Earnings per share rose 49% (compared to the same quarter a year ago) to $ 2.17, above the analyst average of $ 1.92.
The amount of quarterly income (net income) amounted to $ 16.5 billion, an increase of 47%.
Total quarterly revenues accelerated growth to 21% and $ 46.15 billion, surpassing Wall Street’s estimates of $ 44.24 billion. Microsoft’s quarterly revenues and earnings statistics for the last two years are available here.
The table below shows the quarterly growth data for each Microsoft segment since Q1 2020 (Q1′ 20).
Fundamental cloud computing division Azure has shown solid 51% revenue growth, but the company did not disclose the exact amount of its revenues in dollars.
Azure’s consistently strong revenue growth proves its ability to compete with the global cloud computing market leader Amazon Web Services from Amazon (AMZN).
The news that the Pentagon has decided to split its $ 10 billion cloud contract between Microsoft and AWS has not materially affected Microsoft stock, which is trading near all-time highs.
Microsoft shares are up 28.8% YTD, beating the average growth rate for tech stocks, as the Nasdaq Composite is up 13.75% YTD.
Microsoft Fiscal 2021 Results
Microsoft’s total revenues for fin. 2021 grew by 18% to $ 168.1 billion, the annual profit increased by 37% to $ 60.7 billion, earnings per share were $ 7.97.
Amy Hood, executive vice president, and chief financial officer of Microsoft, noted a 36% rise in commercial cloud revenue from a year ago to $ 19.5 billion.
According to Hood, the social networking site LinkedIn, which Microsoft acquired in 2016, became the third business in three years to surpass $ 10 billion in annual revenue.
Teams, a telecommuting and conferencing service that competes with Salesforce’s (CRM)-owned Slack Technologies, also saw strong growth.
Teams reached 250 million monthly active users as of June 30, a massive jump from 145 million in April.
Microsoft’s forecast for 1QF. The 2022 year
According to Hood, Azure’s fourth-quarter revenues were above expectations. As a result, the company now expects the segment’s revenue growth (at constant exchange rates) to remain relatively stable in the first quarter of fiscal 2022.
Microsoft’s forecasts for three critical business units:
Productivity and Business Processes (Office 365 and Dynamics 365, Teams, LinkedIn, etc.),
Intelligent Cloud (Microsoft Azure and others),
More Personal Computing (Xbox and more)
For the first quarter, we are exceeding the average estimates of market analysts.
In the fourth fiscal quarter, Microsoft announced its intention to acquire speech recognition company Nuance Communications for $ 19 billion, including debt.
Microsoft also unveiled Windows 11, a new version of its desktop operating system, although the sale of licenses to device manufacturers has.
