Key Highlights
- Microsoft Stock Advances 3.43% in After-Hours Session Following Strong Q3 Performance
- Cloud Platform Azure Delivers 40% Year-Over-Year Growth as Shares Reach $549.20
- Quarterly Revenue Reaches $82.9 Billion While Net Profit Climbs 23% to $31.8 Billion
- Artificial Intelligence Business Achieves $37 Billion Annual Run Rate with 123% Growth
- Cloud Services Generate $54.5 Billion as Contracted Business Backlog Surges 99%
Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) climbed 3.43% during extended trading hours, reaching $549.20 after the company unveiled its fiscal third-quarter 2026 results. The advance of $18.19 followed a regular session close of $531.01, which was down 0.06%. Robust cloud performance, expanding Azure adoption, and accelerating revenue momentum drove investor enthusiasm in after-hours activity.
Quarterly Financial Performance Surpasses Forecasts with Double-Digit Revenue Growth
Microsoft delivered $82.9 billion in total revenue during the quarter that concluded on March 31, 2026, marking an 18% gain compared to the same period last year. When accounting for foreign exchange fluctuations, the company’s revenue expansion stood at 15%, underscoring consistent demand throughout its core business lines. Operating profit advanced 20% to $38.4 billion, with currency-adjusted growth of 16%.
The company posted net profit of $31.8 billion under GAAP standards, representing a 23% year-over-year improvement. Diluted earnings per share also grew 23% to $4.27, up from $3.46 in the prior-year quarter. When excluding the OpenAI investment impact, Microsoft’s non-GAAP earnings showed 21% growth.
Management expectations for revenue, operating profit, and per-share earnings were all exceeded by the actual results. Non-GAAP net profit totaled $31.79 billion versus $26.41 billion in the year-ago period. Adjusted per-share earnings improved to $4.27 from $3.54, reflecting enhanced profitability throughout the three-month period.
Cloud Business Delivers $54.5 Billion as Azure Expansion Accelerates to 40%
The Microsoft Cloud division emerged as a critical driver of quarterly success, producing $54.5 billion in revenue. This represented a 29% year-over-year increase, or 25% when adjusted for currency movements, as enterprise customers continued embracing cloud infrastructure. The company’s commercial remaining performance obligations jumped 99% to $627 billion, signaling strong future revenue visibility from existing contracts.
Azure and related cloud services posted 40% revenue growth year over year, or 39% in constant currency terms. This performance underscored Microsoft’s strengthening position in cloud computing and its capacity to serve growing artificial intelligence infrastructure needs. The Intelligent Cloud division overall generated $34.7 billion in revenue, achieving a 30% annual increase.
The Productivity and Business Processes segment contributed $35 billion in revenue, up 17% year over year. Microsoft 365 Commercial cloud revenue expanded 19%, while the consumer cloud offering recorded 33% growth. Revenue from LinkedIn rose 12%, and Dynamics 365 posted 22% growth, demonstrating broad-based momentum across productivity and enterprise software solutions.
Artificial Intelligence Momentum Continues While Personal Computing Segment Faces Headwinds
Microsoft’s artificial intelligence operations achieved an annualized revenue run rate exceeding $37 billion, climbing 123% compared to the previous year. The company is actively scaling its infrastructure capacity and software capabilities to address surging enterprise demand for AI-enabled applications. These initiatives complement Azure’s robust performance and reinforce Microsoft’s competitive standing in enterprise cloud markets.
The More Personal Computing division generated $13.2 billion in revenue, declining 1% year over year. Windows OEM and Devices revenue slipped 2%, while Xbox content and services revenue dropped 5% during the quarter. However, search advertising revenue, excluding traffic acquisition expenses, grew 12%, providing partial offset within the segment.
Microsoft distributed $10.2 billion to shareholders via dividends and stock buybacks throughout the third quarter. The company expects to offer forward guidance during its scheduled earnings call and webcast. The after-hours trading price of $549.20 demonstrated positive investor sentiment following the better-than-expected financial results and continued strength in cloud services.
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