Microsoft's $3 Trillion Milestone: A Triumph in Tech Dominance

In another huge win for Microsoft, the company overtook Apple as the most valuable public company in the world, as Satya Nadella approaches his 10th anniversary as the chief executive of the company.

In 2024, the competition to lead the AI race is undeniably intense. Microsoft is right at the cutting edge, having invested billions in OpenAI and starting to push artificial intelligence into other products and software the company creates.

Microsoft has already publicly said that AI wouldn’t produce meaningful financial results until this year, and investors are now intrigued to see if the trend turns into profit.

The fact that Microsoft posted revenue way beyond most analysts’ expectations suggests that the company is getting seriously ahead in AI. Stats show revenue was up by an incredible 62 billion USD, and that profit is up 21.9 billion USD.

“We’ve moved from talking about AI to applying AI at scale,” Chief Executive Nadella said in a statement. “By infusing AI across every layer of our tech stack, we're winning new customers and helping drive new benefits and productivity gains across every sector.”

Microsoft also said it expects similar levels of sales revenue in this quarter and will invest in further data centres, among other initiatives.

Gaining AI Momentum

This $62 billion revenue was hit in the three months that ended in December, up 18 percent from a year earlier. Profit hit $21.9 billion – up by an incredible 33 percent.

Understandably, investors are particularly interested in the AI news coming from Microsoft, as they are looking to explore whether there are signs that they are profiting from these new technologies. More people also seem to be tying into Microsoft for the long term. Their cloud productivity suite, including Teams and Excel, saw further signups and growth in the region of 17 per cent.

The company’s cloud computing sector, Azure, grew even faster than many previously, with 30 percent growth in the quarter. Azure uses AI, which provides the access that Microsoft can provide to partner AI services by OpenAI.

Few companies have shown such consistency when it comes to adopting new technology and staying relevant. From the early days of computing to dominating much of the AI technology news that is published today, the company has continued to grow while embracing new tech and fighting off potential competitors.