On April 29 (local time), Microsoft unveiled its financial results for the third quarter of the 2026 fiscal year. Bolstered by robust revenue growth from Azure and other cloud services that exceeded expectations, Microsoft's stock price experienced a modest uptick in after-hours trading. During the quarter, Microsoft's revenue soared to US$82.9 billion, marking an 18% year-on-year increase. Its net profit, calculated under US GAAP standards, reached US$31.8 billion, up 23% from the previous year. Notably, the annualized revenue from its artificial intelligence (AI) business surpassed US$37 billion, skyrocketing by 123% year-on-year. In terms of capital expenditure, the company spent US$31.9 billion in the quarter, and Microsoft anticipates its full-year capital expenditure for 2026 to reach a staggering US$190 billion. The gross profit margin stood at 68%, experiencing a slight year-on-year decline.
Breaking down the revenue by division, the Intelligent Cloud segment contributed US$34.7 billion, up 30% year-on-year. The More Personal Computing segment, on the other hand, saw a 1% year-on-year decrease, generating US$13.2 billion in revenue. Meanwhile, the Productivity and Business Processes segment reported a 17% year-on-year increase, with revenue reaching US$35 billion.
Furthermore, on April 27, Microsoft and OpenAI updated their cooperation agreement, refining the exclusivity content clauses. Since 2019, Microsoft has poured over US$13 billion into OpenAI and asserts that it has reaped returns approximately 10 times the initial investment. It's worth noting that OpenAI announced a partnership with Amazon in February. On March 17, Microsoft also revealed its plans to merge its commercial and consumer Copilot teams, streamlining operations and enhancing synergy.