Microsoft shares drop as cloud miss overshadows better-than-expected revenue and earnings

Microsoft shares fell as much as 7% in extended trading on Tuesday as investors looked past better-than-expected earnings and revenue and focused instead on disappointing cloud results. But executives provided a dose of optimism when they predicted a cloud growth speed-up in the first half of 2025.

Here's how the company did, compared with the LSEG consensus:

Microsoft's revenue increased 15% year over year in the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended on June 30, according to a statement. Net income, at $22.04 billion, was up from $20.08 billion, or $2.69 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

With respect to guidance, Microsoft called for fiscal first-quarter revenue between $63.8 billion and $64.8 billion, implying 13.8% growth at the middle of the range. Analysts polled by LSEG were looking for $65.24 billion in revenue. The forecast included $15.25 billion in operating expenses at the middle of the range, under the StreetAccount consensus of $16.10 billion.

The company's top segment, Intelligent Cloud, generated $28.52 billion in revenue. It includes the Azure public cloud, Windows Server, Nuance and GitHub. The total was up about 19% and below the $28.68 billion consensus among analysts surveyed by StreetAccount. GitHub's revenue is now at an annual run rate exceeding $2 billion, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on a conference call with analysts.

Revenue from Azure and other cloud services grew 29% during the quarter. Analysts polled by CNBC and StreetAccount had expected 31% growth. Microsoft's Azure number hadn't fallen short of consensus since 2022. The tech giant doesn't disclose revenue from the category in dollars.

Last week, Google parent Alphabet said revenue from its cloud business, encompassing Workspace productivity