Microsoft is giving investors a much clearer look at its cloud business. For the first time, the technology giant has revealed quarterly sales for Microsoft Azure, while also announcing a major change to how it reports its businesses. The move comes as Microsoft, Amazon and Google compete for customers during a rapid expansion in artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
Azure’s Numbers Are Finally Out in the Open
Microsoft said Azure generated $29.4 billion in sales during its most recent quarter. For the fiscal year ending June 30, Azure brought in $101.9 billion.
This is a major change for investors. Microsoft had previously shared Azure’s growth rate, but it did not regularly reveal the cloud platform’s actual sales.
The new figures also make it much easier to compare Azure directly with its biggest competitors.
Amazon reported $42.2 billion in quarterly cloud sales, putting Amazon Web Services ahead of Azure. Google’s cloud business reported $24.8 billion, placing it behind Microsoft during its most recent quarter.
The Cloud Race Gets Easier to Measure
Microsoft, Amazon and Google have spent years competing for businesses that need cloud computing services. That competition has become even more important as companies invest heavily in artificial intelligence.
Training and running advanced AI systems requires large amounts of computing power and data center capacity. Cloud companies are now racing to provide that infrastructure.
Microsoft’s decision to disclose Azure revenue gives investors a clearer way to judge how the company is performing against Amazon and Google as AI spending grows.
For calendar year 2025, Amazon Web Services reported $128.7 billion in sales. Azure generated about $85.8 billion over the comparable four-quarter period. Google has not reported a comparable full-year cloud sales figure.
Microsoft Rebuilds Its Reporting Around AI
The Azure disclosure is part of a wider change in Microsoft’s financial reporting.
Microsoft plans to move from three reporting segments to two.
The first will be called Agents and Infra. It will include cloud computing, AI software and more traditional business software.
The second will be called Devices and Consumer. This group will include Windows, Xbox and advertising revenue from Bing and LinkedIn.
The new structure reflects how deeply artificial intelligence is becoming connected to Microsoft’s products.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said, “There’s no question AI represents a profound shift in both technology and business.”
He also said AI is “blurring the boundaries between our products,” highlighting how the technology is changing the way Microsoft organizes and sells its services.
GitHub Shift Slightly Changes Azure Forecast
Microsoft also adjusted the Azure revenue forecast it gave investors last month.
The company slightly lowered its Azure sales forecast, but said the change was mainly caused by a reporting adjustment rather than a major change in demand.
Some revenue from GitHub, Microsoft’s code-hosting platform, had previously been grouped with Azure. Those sales will now be placed with Microsoft’s M365 Cloud businesses instead.
Microsoft said its overall outlook for the current quarter remains unchanged.
OpenAI Remains Part of Microsoft’s Cloud Story
Microsoft’s position in artificial intelligence is also closely connected to OpenAI.
Microsoft has been one of OpenAI’s major cloud computing providers. OpenAI previously relied exclusively on Microsoft infrastructure to train its models, but changes to the companies’ agreement later allowed OpenAI to work with Amazon Web Services and other providers as well.
That changing relationship adds another layer to the competition between the world’s largest cloud providers. AI companies increasingly need enormous amounts of computing capacity, making their infrastructure choices important for Microsoft, Amazon and Google.
Investors Welcome the Clearer Picture
Investors reacted positively to Microsoft’s announcement. The company’s shares rose about 1.4% in after-hours trading following the disclosure.
The reporting change gives investors something they have wanted for years: a clearer picture of how much money Azure actually generates.
As artificial intelligence drives demand for data centers and cloud computing, Azure is becoming even more important to Microsoft’s future. By revealing its sales and reorganizing its financial reporting, Microsoft is making it easier to see just how large that business has become and how it compares with Amazon and Google.
