四季度微软总营收同比增长放缓至2%，不计汇率影响，增速7%仍优于预期，EPS盈利高于预期，同比降幅超预期放缓至6%；四季度Azure等云服务收入增速为史上最低，汇率导致增速下降7个百分点，不计强美元影响，增长38%，扭转连续两季逊于预期之势；Windows和个人电脑所在业务收入同比降19%，Windows OEM降39%。
去年最后一个季度，微软的收入增长超预期放缓，但核心业务智能云的收入增长放缓程度没有市场预期的大，云业务相对强韧帮助抵消了美元走强和个人电脑相关业务下滑的打击，力挺公司的总盈利仍优于预期。
美东时间24日周二美股盘后，微软公布，截至12月31日的公司2023财年第二财季、即公历2022年第四季度，销售收入略低于预期，增长较前一季度明显放缓，而每股收益（EPS）和利润的降幅均较前一季度明显放缓：
四季度营业收入为527亿美元，同比增长2%，分析师预期529.3亿美元，三季度同比增长10.6%；但如果不计汇率波动影响，按固定汇率计算，营收同比增长7%，高于市场预期增速6.59%。
四季度非GAAP口径下经调整的稀释后EPS为2.32美元，同比下降6%，分析师预期2.30美元，三季度同比下降约13.3%。
四季度经调整营业利润为216亿美元，同比下降3%，三季度同比增长6.3%。
四季度经调整净利润为174亿美元，同比下降7%，三季度同比下降约14.4%。
财报公布后，收跌逾0.2%的微软股价盘后涨幅一度接近5%，但随后转跌。有分析师评论称，过去三个月，市场的情绪已经显著恶化，四季度业绩对微软个股来说可能是一种缓解，因为市场预计的下行程度比业绩显示的还差。
云和Office业务均优于预期，个人电脑相关业务收入两位数锐减
分业务看，云时代微软的两大核心业务——以Azure为核心的智能云和以Office为主的生产力与商业流程业务四季度收入均高于市场预期，只有Windows和Surface个人电脑（PC）相关的业务收入逊于预期，PC业务的降幅达到两位数。
包括Azure、GitHub、服务器产品、企业和云服务在内的“智能云”业务收入为215亿美元，同比增长18%，分析师预期214.3亿美元，三季度同比增长20%，以固定汇率计算，四季度收入增长24%；其中Azure和其他云服务的收入四季度同比增长31%，三季度同比增长35%；服务器产品和云服务收入四季度增长20%，三季度增长22%。
包括面向企业和个人消费者的Office产品、LinkedIn、Dynamics产品和云服务在内的“生产力与商业流程”业务收入为170亿美元，同比增长7%，分析师预期168.1亿美元，三季度同比增长9%；其中Office商业产品和云服务收入四季度同比增长7%，三季度增7%；Office 365商业收入四季度增长11%，三季度增11%；Office消费者产品和云服务收入四季度下降2%，三季度增7%%；LinkedIn收入四季度增长10%，三季度增17%；Dynamics产品和云服务收入四季度增长13%，三季度增15%；Dynamics 365收入四季度增长21%，三季度增24%。
包括Windows、搜索、游戏机Xbox和Surface电脑在内的“更多个人计算”业务收入142亿美元，同比下降19%，其中Windows OEM（原始设备商）四季度收入同比下降39%，三季度同比下降15%；Windows商用产品和云服务收入四季度下降3%，三季度增8%；Xbox内容和服务收入四季度下降12%，三季度下降3%；剔除流量获取成本的搜索和新闻广告收入四季度增长10%，三季度增16%；Surface收入四季度下降39%，三季度增2%。
Azure等云收入增速为史上最低，但扭转连续两季逊于预期之势，汇率影响导致增速减少7个百分点
华尔街见闻注意到，微软有近一半的营收来自美国以外市场，美元汇率走强已经让微软最近三个季度的业绩受到很大影响。微软发布三季度财报时预计，汇率因素将造成全年销售增幅下降5%。市场尤为关注的智能云业务三季度和四季度的同比增速都不超过20%，较2020年来45%以上的季度高增长明显放缓，这主要受到美元走强的影响。
以下财报截图展示了微软各主要业务在未调整的GAAP口径下同比增长，以及不计美元汇率影响、以固定汇率计算的同比增长，从中可以发现，Dynamics 365业务所受影响最大，增速下降了8个百分点，云业务的收入增速因此下降了7个百分点。
四季度Azure的收入增速为微软史上最低。财报显示，如果不计强美元的汇率波动影响，以固定汇率计算，四季度Azure等云服务的收入同比增长38%，而市场预期增长37%，扭转了此前连续两个季度增速低于市场预期的势头。
媒体评论称，尽管增长没有之前强劲，四季度微软的云业务仍展示了韧性，这要归功于企业的云计算服务需求相对稳定。即使Windows软件和PC都因市场缩水而销售剧减，Azure的耐用性帮助微软实现了业绩增长。
微软首席财务官Amy Hood在发布财报时也提及云业务的强劲表现，称“在继续投资以推动增长的同时，公司专注于卓越的运营。四季度微软的云收入为271亿美元，同比增长22%，按固定汇率计算增长29%，因为我们的商业产品继续为客户创造价值。”
大举投资AI，看好微软云结合AI前景
公布财报前，本周一微软刚刚宣布，向开发ChatGPT的实验室OpenAI追加投资数十亿美元，通过人工智能（AI）史上规模最大的投资进一步押注AI。
微软董事长兼CEO Satya Nadella当时表示，微软正在迅速推进OpenAI工具的商业化，计划将包括ChatGPT、DALL-E 等人工智能工具整合进微软旗下的所有产品中。微软称，下一阶段将专注于将各类工具推向市场。
本周二发布财报的公告中，Nadella又表示，“随着微软云将全球最先进的人工智能模型转变为一个新的计算平台，下一波重要的计算浪潮正在诞生。我们致力于帮助客户运用我们的平台和工具，在今天用更少的资源做更多的事，并在人工智能的新时代为未来创新。”
编辑/lydia
Microsoft Corp's total revenue growth slowed to 2% in the fourth quarter compared with the same period last year, excluding the exchange rate effect, the growth rate was still better than expected, EPS profit was higher than expected, and the year-on-year decline slowed to 6%. In the fourth quarter, the growth rate of cloud services such as Azure was the lowest in history, and the exchange rate led to a decline of 7%. Excluding the influence of the strong dollar, the growth rate was 38%, reversing the trend that was lower than expected for two consecutive quarters. Revenue from Windows and PC businesses is down 19% year-on-year. Windows OEM is down 39%.
Microsoft Corp's revenue growth slowed more than expected in the last quarter of last year, but the revenue growth of the core business smart cloud did not slow as much as the market expected. the relative resilience of the cloud business helped offset the impact of a stronger dollar and a decline in PC-related business, supporting the company's total profit still better than expected.
After US stock market trading on Tuesday, 24th US Eastern time, Microsoft Corp announced that in the second quarter of fiscal year 2023, that is, the fourth quarter of the Gregorian calendar, the company's sales revenue was slightly lower than expected, and its growth slowed significantly compared with the previous quarter, while the decline in earnings per share (EPS) and profit slowed significantly compared with the previous quarter.
Operating income in the fourth quarter was $52.7 billion, up 2% from the same period last year.Analysts expect $52.93 billionIt grew by 10.6% in the third quarter compared with the same period last year, but if the effects of exchange rate fluctuations are not taken into account, the fixed exchange rate is used.Revenue increased by 7% year-on-year, higher than the market's expected growth rate of 6.59%。
Adjusted diluted EPS for non-GAAP caliber was $2.32 in the fourth quarter.Down 6% from a year earlier, analysts expect $2.30It fell by about 13.3% in the third quarter from a year earlier.
Adjusted operating profit in the fourth quarter was $21.6 billion, down 3 per cent from a year earlier and up 6.3 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier.
Adjusted net profit in the fourth quarter was $17.4 billion, down 7% from a year earlier, and about 14.4% in the third quarter.
After the announcement of the results, Microsoft Corp shares, which closed down more than 0.2 per cent, rose nearly 5 per cent in after-hours trading, but then fell. Some analysts commented that market sentiment has deteriorated significantly in the past three months, and the fourth-quarter results may be a relief for Microsoft Corp stocks, as the market expects a worse decline than the results show.
Cloud and Office businesses are both better than expected, while PC-related revenue has plummeted by double digits.
In terms of business, the revenue of Microsoft Corp's two core businesses in the cloud era-intelligent cloud with Azure as the core and productivity and business process business dominated by Office-exceeded market expectations in the fourth quarter, only the business revenue related to Windows and Surface personal computer (PC) fell lower than expected, and the PC business declined by double digits.
Revenue from the "smart cloud" business, which includes Azure, GitHub, server products, enterprises and cloud services, was $21.5 billion, up 18% year-on-year, while analysts expect $21.43 billion and 20% year-on-year growth in the third quarterAt fixed exchange rates, revenue grew by 24% in the fourth quarter.Revenue from Azure and other cloud services increased by 31% in the fourth quarter and 35% in the third quarter, while revenue from server products and cloud services increased by 20% in the fourth quarter and 22% in the third quarter.
Revenue from Productivity and Business processes, which includes Office products, LinkedIn, Dynamics products and cloud services for business and individual consumers, was $17 billion, up 7% year-on-year, while analysts expected $16.81 billion and 9% year-on-year growth in the third quarter. Revenue from Office commercial products and cloud services increased by 7% in the fourth quarter, 7% in the third quarter, 11% in the fourth quarter and 11% in the third quarter. Revenue from Office consumer products and cloud services fell 2% in the fourth quarter, 7% in the third quarter, 10% in the fourth quarter, 17% in the third quarter, 13% in the fourth quarter, 15% in the third quarter, 21% in the fourth quarter and 24% in the third quarter.
Revenue from the "more personal computing" business, which includes Windows, search, game console Xbox and Surface computers, was $14.2 billion, down 19% from a year earlier, of which revenue from Windows OEM (original equipment vendors) fell 39% in the fourth quarter and 15% in the third quarter compared with the same period last year. Search and news advertising revenue, excluding traffic acquisition costs, grew by 10% in the fourth quarter, 16% in the third quarter, down 39% in the fourth quarter and up 2% in the third quarter.
The growth rate of cloud revenue such as Azure was the slowest in history, but reversed the trend that was lower than expected for two consecutive quarters, and the exchange rate effect reduced the growth rate by 7 percentage points.
Wall Street has noticed that nearly half of Microsoft Corp's revenue comes from markets outside the United States, and the strengthening exchange rate of the US dollar has greatly affected Microsoft Corp's performance in the last three quarters. In his third-quarter results, Microsoft Corp predicted that exchange rate factors would reduce full-year sales growth by 5 per cent. The smart cloud business, which is of particular concern to the market, grew at a year-on-year growth rate of no more than 20% in the third and fourth quarters, which is significantly slower than the quarterly high growth rate of more than 45% since 2020, mainly affected by the strength of the US dollar.
The following financial report screenshot shows the year-on-year growth of Microsoft Corp's major businesses under the unadjusted GAAP caliber, as well as the year-on-year growth at a fixed exchange rate, excluding the impact of the US dollar exchange rate. It can be found that Dynamics 365 business was the most affected, with growth falling by 8 percentage points and cloud business revenue growth by 7 percentage points.
The growth rate of Azure income in the fourth quarter was the slowest in Microsoft Corp's history. Financial statements show that if the exchange rate fluctuations of the strong US dollar are not taken into account, it is calculated at a fixed exchange rate.Revenue from cloud services such as Azure grew 38% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, while the market is expected to grow 37%Reversing the previous two consecutive quarters of slower-than-market growth.
Media commented that although the growth was not as strong as before, Microsoft Corp's cloud business showed resilience in the fourth quarter, thanks to the relatively stable demand for cloud computing services. Even though sales of Windows software and PC have plummeted due to the shrinking market, the durability of Azure has helped Microsoft Corp achieve performance growth.
Amy Hood, chief financial officer of Microsoft Corp, also mentioned the strong performance of the cloud business when releasing the results, saying that "while continuing to invest to drive growth, the company is focused on operational excellence." Microsoft Corp's cloud revenue in the fourth quarter was US $27.1 billion, an increase of 22% over the same period last year and 29% at a fixed exchange rate, as our commercial products continue to create value for our customers. "
Invest heavily in AI, optimistic about the prospect of Microsoft Corp cloud combining with AI
The results come just after Microsoft Corp announced on Monday that he had invested billions more in OpenAI, the laboratory that developed ChatGPT, and made a further bet on AI through the largest investment in the history of artificial intelligence (AI).
Microsoft Corp Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said at the time that Microsoft Corp was rapidly promoting the commercialization of OpenAI tools and planned to integrate artificial intelligence tools including ChatGPT and DALL-E into all Microsoft Corp's products. Microsoft Corp said that the next stage will focus on bringing all kinds of tools to market.
In the announcement of the results released on Tuesday, Nadella said, "as Microsoft Corp Cloud transforms the world's most advanced artificial intelligence model into a new computing platform, the next important computing wave is being born. We are committed to helping customers use our platforms and tools to do more with fewer resources today and to innovate for the future in the new era of artificial intelligence. "
Edit / lydia
