Microsoft had another huge quarter thanks to its cloud success

Microsoft’s expansion continues at pace after it reported FY22 Q2 earnings that showed all of its core businesses are growing healthily. 

The company reported that during the quarter ending December 31 2021, revenue rose 20% year-over-year to $51.7 billion, operating income rose 24% YoY to $22.2 billion, and net income reached $18.8 billion, up 21% YoY. 

The strong results were driven by strong growth in pretty much all of Microsoft’s major businesses. 

Microsoft results boom

Starting at the top, Intelligent Cloud (which includes Azure) reached $18.3 billion, a 26% YoY rise, driven by strong results from Azure (up 46% YoY) and other server products and services (up 29%). 

Productivity and Businesses Processes, which includes Microsoft 365 and LinkedIn, was up 19% YoY to $15.9 billion. Pretty much every business segment contained within rose in Q2 and Microsoft 365 now has 56.4 million customers. 

Personal Computing, the unit that contains Xbox and Windows, reported $17.5 billion in revenue, a 15% rise, as Windows OEM revenue rose 25% and Xbox was up 10% YoY. Surface reported a respectable 8% YoY rise during the holiday quarter. 

“Digital technology is the most malleable resource at the world’s disposal to overcome constraints and reimagine everyday work and life,” said CEO Satya Nadella. 

“As tech as a percentage of global GDP continues to increase, we are innovating and investing across diverse and growing markets, with a common underlying technology stack and an operating model that reinforces a common strategy, culture, and sense of purpose.”

While AWS leads the cloud computing services market, and Google Cloud is snapping at Azure’s heels, Microsoft is still finding lots of new clients and growth. Coupled with growth in all other areas, plus the pending Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft is set to have a barnstorming year in 2022.