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Chronicles

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Microsoft reports Q4 revenue up 21% YoY to $46.2B, net income up 47% YoY to $16.5B, commercial cloud revenue up 36% YoY to $19.5B, LinkedIn revenue up 46% YoY

Earnings Release FY21 Q4 REDMOND, Wash. — July 27, 2021 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the following results for the quarter ended June 30 …

Microsoft - Investor Relations

Context & Ripple Effects

This quarter sits at the start of a multi-year earnings sequence in which Microsoft continued to report double-digit company revenue growth: the following Q2 results kept revenue growth at 20%, while the next Q4 report showed growth had moderated to 12% even as Azure rose 40%.

The later coverage also changes the emphasis of Microsoft’s commercial metrics. By 2023 and 2024, earnings releases repeatedly foregrounded Office Commercial growth alongside LinkedIn, including 15% total revenue growth in fiscal Q4 2024.

First-order effects

  • Commercial cloud generated more than two-fifths of Microsoft’s quarterly revenue, making it the company’s largest disclosed growth engine in this release.
  • LinkedIn’s 46% revenue increase gives Microsoft a second fast-growing commercial business alongside cloud, rather than a cloud-only earnings story.

Second-order effects

  • Microsoft enters subsequent comparisons with an elevated growth base: reported company revenue growth slowed to 12% in the following Q4, while LinkedIn growth slowed to 26%.
  • The strength of commercial cloud and LinkedIn gives Microsoft multiple reported growth metrics to carry through later earnings releases as its overall revenue base expands.

Third-order effects

  • Microsoft’s earnings narrative increasingly shifts from a period defined by cloud and LinkedIn acceleration toward a broader commercial-software scorecard that repeatedly includes Office Commercial.
  • If that disclosure pattern persists, investors will assess Microsoft less through a single cloud-growth measure and more through the durability of several commercial revenue streams.

The trend: Microsoft is broadening its reported growth profile from cloud-led acceleration toward a more diversified set of commercial software and business-network revenue engines.

Discussion

  • @kyweise Karen Weise on x
    It's been several minutes since Satya said the phrase “enterprise metaverse” on the earnings call and I'm pretty sure I haven't been able to process anything since https://www.nytimes.com/...
  • @microsoft @microsoft on x
    Read the full Microsoft's Q4 Earnings Release here: https://www.microsoft.com/... Note about Forward-Looking Statements in earnings tweets: https://view.officeapps.live.com/ ...
  • @morningbrew @morningbrew on x
    Microsoft crushed earnings but is tanking after hours Things are divorced from reality these days when it comes to MSFT smh https://twitter.com/...
  • @microsoft @microsoft on x
    Strong finish to fiscal 2021. 💪 ✅ $168.1 billion in annual revenue ✅ $69.9 billion in annual operating income Commercial cloud  annual revenue exceeded $69 billion ⬆ 34%
  • @asymco Horace Dediu on x
    Microsoft Revenue: $46.15 billion, $44.25 b expected EPS: $2.17, $1.92 expected Productivity : $14.69 billion, $13.9 billion expected Intelligent Cloud: $17.38 billion, $16.4 billion expected More Personal Computing: $14.09 billion, $13.8 billion expected Stock down 2.73%
  • @epro Emil Protalinski on x
    $MSFT Q4 2021: - Revenue up 21% to $46.2 billion - Profit up 47% to $16.5 billion - Azure up 51% - LinkedIn up 46% - Office Commercial up 20% - Office 365 Commercial up 25% - Office Consumer up 18% - Surface down 20% - Windows OEM down 3% - Windows Commercial up 20% - Xbox up 34%
  • @fxshaw Frank X. Shaw on x
    Just leaving this here: Gaming, security, and LinkedIn all surpassed $10 billion in annual revenue over the past three years. https://twitter.com/...
  • @tomwarren Tom Warren on x
    Microsoft's latest Q4, 2021 earnings for Xbox: • Gaming revenue up 11% overall ✔️ • Xbox hardware revenue up 172%✔️ • Xbox content and services down 4% ❌ • No new Xbox Game Pass subscriber numbers ❌ https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
  • @backlon Dieter Bohn on x
    So Big Tech is making Big Money this past quarter all across the board. If you had told me that LinkedIn would be a $10 billion business, I would have asked if all those InMail notifications finally drove you 'round the bend. https://twitter.com/...
  • @daniel_rubino Daniel Rubino on x
    It's funny, people rip on Bing, but ... “Search advertising revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs increased 53%” Search advertising is becoming a big deal for MS. It and Windows Commercial products (cloud services, MS365), were the bright spots. No supply issues there. http…
  • @microsoft @microsoft on x
    Revenue: $46.2 billion ⬆️21% Operating income: $19.1 billion ⬆️42% Net Income: $16.5 billion ⬆️47% EPS: $2.17 ⬆ 49%
  • Pure Xbox Pure Xbox on x
    Microsoft CEO: Xbox Series X & Series S Are Our ‘Fastest Selling Consoles Ever’
  • @tomwarren Tom Warren on x
    Microsoft's Q4, 2021 fiscal earnings are out. Surface revenue is down 20%, and Windows revenue is weaker all round, amid a global chip shortage https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...