Microsoft puts Azure at $33.2 billion in quarterly revenue

A clearer view of the cloud race

Microsoft said Azure revenue grew 48%, above the 44% to 45% range CFO Amy Hood had forecast on the company’s July earnings call. The business accounted for about 36% of Microsoft’s $92.3 billion in quarterly revenue.

Azure lets companies rent computing capacity to run applications and software-as-a-service products, as well as build and work with AI models. Microsoft has now placed it in Agents and Infra, one of two new reporting segments introduced this quarter. That segment combines Azure with Microsoft 365’s cloud business and generated $76.8 billion, up 25% year over year.

The previous reporting structure had three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The change makes Azure’s dollar revenue visible, but the broader segment figure is not an Azure-only measure.

Amazon reports on Thursday, with analysts also expecting growth in Amazon Web Services. AWS remains the largest cloud service, and no one currently expects Microsoft to overtake it. With all three companies now reporting cloud revenue in dollars, comparisons are easier to make.

What the headline leaves out

I think the more useful comparison is growth, not just scale. Google Cloud’s revenue was roughly half Azure’s a year ago and is now closer, while growing about twice as fast, according to TechCrunch’s calculations. The reported figures make the race easier to see, but they do not settle where it is heading.

The missing detail is how much of Microsoft’s growth comes from AI-related demand, and how much from its broader cloud business. The announcement establishes Azure’s size and pace; it does not break out what is driving either. That leaves the central contest less about who is larger today than whether Microsoft can keep growing faster than its current lead suggests.