Microsoft reported a 10% increase in quarterly profits Tuesday as it tries to maintain its position as a leader in artificial intelligence technology.
The software giant said its fiscal fourth-quarter profit was $22 billion, or $2.95 per share, slightly beating analyst expectations for $2.94 per share.
It posted revenue of $64.7 billion in the April-June period, up 15% from last year. Analysts polled by FactSet Research had been looking for revenue of $64.4 billion.
Microsoft’s growth was led by its cloud computing business, where quarterly revenue rose 19% to $28.5 billion. That was still lower than what some analysts expected, leading to the stock shedding about 5% in after-hours trading Tuesday.
The Redmond, Washington-based company doesn’t report revenue specifically from AI products but says it has infused the technology into all of its business segments, particularly its Azure cloud computing contracts, but increasingly its workplace software and other products. Much of its generative AI technology has been built as part of its multibillion-dollar investments in OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT.
Revenue from Microsoft’s productivity services – such as its Office line of products – rose 11% to $20.3 billion.
Microsoft’s personal computing business, centered on licensing its Windows operating system, made $15.9 billion for the quarter, up 14% from last year.
Emmy Awards ratings up more than 50%, reversing record lows
The Emmys telecast on ABC reached nearly 7 million viewers, a jump of more than 50%from the record low of the last ceremony in January and the biggest audience since 2021, according to numbers released Monday by the network.
Sunday night's 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, in which "Shogun," "Hacks" and "Baby Reindeer" won top awards, was back in its traditional mid-September spot after the rare January ceremony that was delayed four months by Hollywood's strikes.
That show, which aired on Fox, reached a record low audience of 4.3 million viewers.
ABC said Monday that the Sunday night show hosted by Eugene and Dan Levy reached 6.87 million viewers, a jump of 54% despite competition from NFL football.
The height-of-the-pandemic Emmys in 2020 on ABC, with no in-person audience and remote nominees, set a new low at the time with 6.1 million viewers. The show bounced back the following year with 7.4 million for CBS with help from an NFL game lead-in.
But NBC's 2022 telecast dropped to 5.9 million, followed by the further decline in January of this year.
The Emmys telecast rotates annually between the four broadcast networks.
The last time the Emmys reached more than 10 million viewers was 2018, when it drew in 10.2 million. The show had 21.8 million viewers in 2000, a level it's unlikely ever to reach again.
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