Microsoft Earnings Give Redmond World’s Second-Highest Market Cap

Demand for cloud computing and generative AI is showing no signs of slowing. As evidence, just look at the July 25 release of Microsoft earnings, first, and Google Cloud earnings, second.

We say “Microsoft earnings first” for two reasons. One, Microsoft, with its Azure division, remains the world’s second-largest public cloud provider, behind Amazon Web Services. Two, Microsoft earnings on Tuesday propelled the company to a couple of records. We discuss those in the first part of the slideshow above but, as a hint, consider that Microsoft now only trails one other corporation when it comes to global market capitalization. That’s significant.

Hot Microsoft Earnings: Stock Down?

Oddly, though, despite those strong Microsoft earnings, shares of the company were trading down after hours. We explain why. Even so, the software giant’s stock has risen 44% so far in 2023, thanks in large part to its ChatGPT generative AI successes.

Also, in addition to announcing its quarterly numbers, Microsoft earnings on Tuesday note the company’s full-year results. Channel partners who sell Microsoft services and products will be keen to get those figures.

None of this, of course, is to edge out results coming from Google Cloud. Google Cloud still ranks as the world’s third-largest public cloud provider, and while it has a long way to go to top Microsoft, it’s showing its own significant growth. We explore the reasons why. See the slideshow above to get started.