Microsoft Soars: Q2 2026 Revenue Hits $81.3 Billion, Surging 17% Year-Over-Year
Another quarter, another mountain of cash for the tech titan. Microsoft's financial engine roars on, seemingly immune to the economic headwinds battering other sectors.
The Numbers Don't Lie
The software behemoth just posted a staggering $81.3 billion haul for the quarter. That's a 17% jump compared to the same period last year—growth that would make most Fortune 500 CEOs weep with envy. It's not just surviving; it's accelerating.
Where's the Growth Coming From?
Look past the headline number, and the story gets even more interesting. While legacy software licenses chug along, the real rocket fuel is coming from elsewhere. Cloud infrastructure, enterprise AI solutions, and that ever-expanding gaming ecosystem are pulling far more than their weight. They're not just product lines; they're veritable revenue geysers.
The 'Old Guard' vs. The New Wave
Contrast this with the traditional finance sector, where executives are still patting themselves on the back for single-digit percentage gains. Microsoft's performance highlights a brutal truth: in the digital age, asset-light, platform-based business models simply outmuscle old-world balance sheets. It's algorithmic efficiency versus manual ledger-keeping—and the algorithms are winning. Every. Single. Time.
So, while Wall Street analysts scramble to adjust their models and justify their price targets, Microsoft just keeps executing. The lesson? In a world racing toward digital everything, betting against the companies building the foundational platforms is a fool's errand. The future isn't just being written in code; it's being banked in Redmond.
AI revenue grows as OpenAI boosts cloud pipeline
Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, said, “We are only at the beginning phases of AI diffusion, and already Microsoft has built an AI business that is larger than some of our biggest franchises.”
That came as Microsoft confirmed its cloud revenue crossed $50 billion, up 26% from last year. Amy Hood, the company’s CFO, said, “We exceeded expectations across revenue, operating income, and earnings per share.”
Microsoft’s commercial remaining performance obligation, future contracted revenue not yet recorded, hit $625 billion, more than double last year’s level. That massive jump came after OpenAI committed $250 billion to Microsoft’s cloud services. OpenAI alone now accounts for 45% of that $625 billion.
Azure and other cloud services revenue grew 39%. That matched analyst forecasts but slightly missed the 40% growth seen in the previous quarter. Intelligent Cloud, the segment that includes Azure, pulled in $32.9 billion, up 29%.
Microsoft also highlighted its Productivity and Business Processes segment, which brought in $34.1 billion, up 16%. Within that, Microsoft 365 Commercial cloud revenue climbed 17%, Microsoft 365 Consumer shot up 29%, LinkedIn ROSE 11%, and Dynamics 365 was up 19%.
Gaming and device sales slide while shareholder payouts grow
Not everything was sunshine. Microsoft’s More Personal Computing division brought in $14.3 billion, down 3%. Xbox content and services revenue fell 5%, and even with a tiny 1% increase in Windows OEM and device sales, the overall category dragged.
On the plus side for investors, Microsoft returned $12.7 billion to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks in the quarter. That’s a 32% increase over the same quarter last year.
Here’s the detailed financial table showing how Microsoft’s OpenAI investment impacted GAAP and non-GAAP figures:
- GAAP net income (2025): $38.5 billion
- Adjusted net income (2025): $30.9 billion
- GAAP EPS (2025): $5.16
- Adjusted EPS (2025): $4.14
- GAAP net income (2024): $24.1 billion
- Adjusted net income (2024): $25.0 billion
- GAAP EPS (2024): $3.23
- Adjusted EPS (2024): $3.35
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