Ongoing

  1. ElectionsHot
  2. US mid-termsHeating up
  3. AICooling
NewsbriefSouth Africa, briefly.
JoburgJHB29°16°CTCT30°17°PretoriaPTA31°17°DurbanDBN27°64%

Microsoft shows Azure revenue in dollars for first time

Published

Ongoing: AI Cooling

Microsoft said Azure brought in $33.2 billion in the September quarter, up 48% from a year earlier. Total revenue rose 19% to $92.3 billion, and net income was $36.6 billion.

Total revenue of $92.3 billion beat the $90.75 billion that analysts expected. Operating income was $45.9 billion, up 21%. Net income rose 32%. Azure growth also beat the 44% to 45% range that Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood forecast in July.

Capital spending was $45.2 billion, below Microsoft's forecast of more than $50 billion. Microsoft said some third-party data centre capacity arrived late. Microsoft shares rose nearly 4% in after-hours trading.

Microsoft also replaced its three business segments with two. Microsoft Cloud revenue was $63.9 billion, up 30%. Xbox revenue fell 2% to $5.4 billion.

Hood said in the results release: "Results exceeded expectations across revenue, operating income, and earnings per share."

Key facts

Who
Microsoft (cloud computing company whose Azure revenue is reported); AWS (competitor in cloud market); Amy Hood (CFO of Microsoft)
What
Microsoft reported Azure's quarterly revenue as $33.2 billion, the first time it has disclosed the figure in dollars, according to the headline and description. The description says this shows how close Azure is getting to AWS, the biggest competitor in the market.
When
28 October 2026
Status
Reported

Related stories

Elections Hot

What you need to know

Voting in the 2026 Local Government Elections is under way at 23,696 stations, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported a smooth start on 4 November. Stations opened at 7am and close at 9pm, and by 10am preliminary figures showed 3,523,691 voters had cast ballots.

There were problems: unused ballot papers were stolen from Mnyameni Secondary School near Durban, police opened a case, and the IEC relieved the station staff of duty. Some voters in Tshwane said they were turned away for wearing party shirts, but the IEC denied this and said only mayoral candidates' entourages were barred.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe told members not to query the results or discredit the IEC, while the IEC said false online claims show routine procedures as fraud.

  1. IEC dismisses MK Party worry about dead people on voters' roll
  2. IEC says local election voting went largely smoothly
  3. IEC says about 12 million had voted by 5pm

See every update

US mid-terms Heating up

What you need to know

Democrats won back both the US House and Senate in the midterm elections held on 3 November, according to media projections. Exit polls showed voters were angry about high prices and the direction of the country, and rebuked President Donald Trump.

Before the vote, US forces struck targets on Qeshm Island in Iran, while Republicans struggled to defend the war against Iran on the campaign trail. Iranian officials said US voters rejected the war, and Tehran stayed on high alert for possible new US strikes.

Markets reacted, with the dollar hitting a one-month low and the rand firming to around R16.55, as analysts pointed to fears of gridlock in Washington.

  1. Iran welcomes Democratic wins in US midterm elections
  2. Democrats win US Congress in midterm vote, projections show
  3. Ramaphosa wants US trade deal after AGOA suspension

See every update

AI Cooling

What you need to know

Nvidia has told its cloud computing clients to sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Anthropic said it has committed to spend close to $900bn on AI infrastructure, and that its computing costs are rising faster than its revenues.

Elsewhere, reports from unnamed sources say OpenAI's latest funding round is falling short of expectations, and a judge let the NAACP pollution case against xAI proceed. In South Africa, the VAST AI investment scheme went offline on 30 October after withdrawals marked approved did not arrive, according to a news investigation.

  1. Accenture faces accusations over AI report with false citations
  2. CrowdStrike to buy two AI security startups
  3. Google lets schools turn off AI tools but limits Search

See every update