GoKawiilMicrosoft shares fell 5% in extended trading on Wednesday after the software maker posted slowing cloud growth.
Here's how the company performed in comparison with LSEG consensus:
Earnings per share: $4.14 adjusted vs. $3.97 expected
$4.14 adjusted vs. $3.97 expected Revenue: $81.27 billion vs. $80.27 billion expected
Microsoft's revenue grew 16.7% year over year in the fiscal second quarter, which ended on Dec. 31, according to a statement.
Net income, at $38.46 billion, or $5.16 per share, was up from $24.11 billion, or $3.23 per share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Adjusted earnings exclude impact from investments in OpenAI. The company's gross margin was the narrowest it's been in three years, coming in just over 68%.
Revenue from Azure and other cloud services grew 39%, compared with 40% growth in the fiscal first quarter. Analysts surveyed by StreetAccount and CNBC had expected 39.4% and 38.9% growth, respectively.
The company reported $9.97 billion in other income, compared with other expense of $2.29 billion in the same quarter a year ago. The swing comes three months after OpenAI announced a restructuring that involved its for-profit arm becoming a public-benefit corporation. Microsoft saw a decrease in its proportionate ownership of OpenAI, yielding a dilution gain.
At year end, the company's commercial remaining performance obligation, a measurement of unearned revenue and amounts that will be recognized as revenue later, stood at $625 billion, up some 110%. That's thanks to OpenAI's $250 billion cloud commitment with Microsoft during the quarter. Microsoft said 45% of commercial remaining performance obligation is tied to OpenAI.
"The backlog is really good, but the disclosure that OpenAI is 45% of their backlog, it goes back to the situation where, Can OpenAI achieve these financial goals to pay Oracle, Microsoft and many of the providers," Jefferies analyst Brent Thill said on CNBC's Closing Bell Overtime.
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