For years, Microsoft kept Azure’s dollar revenue under wraps. Not anymore. In its latest earnings report, the company disclosed that Azure brought in $33.2 billion for the July–September quarter, up 48% from a year earlier. That single number lets investors compare the cloud giants side by side for the first time.
Quick Facts
- Azure revenue: $33.2 billion for the quarter
- Growth: 48% year over year
- Microsoft total revenue: $92.3 billion
- Google Cloud revenue: $30.7 billion
- Source: TechCrunch (reporter Aditya Mehta, October 28, 2026)
Why This Disclosure Is a Big Deal
Until now, Microsoft mostly shared growth percentages or vague revenue milestones for Azure. Amazon and Alphabet, by contrast, report cloud revenue in dollars every quarter. By switching to hard numbers, Microsoft lets analysts line up Azure directly against Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud.
Azure vs. Google Cloud
Google Cloud posted $30.7 billion in the same quarter, putting Azure slightly ahead in raw revenue. But Google’s growth is faster. TechCrunch’s calculations show Google Cloud roughly doubled its revenue from a year earlier, growing about twice as fast as Azure. One caveat: Google Cloud’s figure also includes Workspace subscriptions.
Azure Beats Wall Street
Azure didn’t just grow, it outperformed expectations:
- Revenue: About $850 million above the $32.3 billion analysts expected
- Growth rate: 48%, above the 44% to 45% forecast by CFO Amy Hood on the July earnings call
- Share of business: Roughly 36% of Microsoft’s total quarterly revenue
Azure is now Microsoft’s largest and fastest-growing product line by the company’s own figures.
What Azure Actually Sells
Azure is where businesses rent computing power to run applications and software-as-a-service, and to build and run AI models. That AI demand is a major reason the cloud business keeps accelerating, as companies race to train and deploy models.
Microsoft Reshuffles Its Reporting
Alongside the Azure number, Microsoft changed how it presents its business. It used to report three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. This quarter it introduced two new segments, including Agents and Infra, which groups Azure with Microsoft 365’s cloud business.
That segment brought in $76.8 billion, up 25% from a year earlier.
What About AWS?
Amazon’s cloud arm remains the market leader and has been since the beginning of the cloud era. Nobody expects Microsoft to overtake it right now. Amazon was due to report earnings on Thursday, and analysts expected AWS to keep growing. With all three giants now reporting dollar revenue, the comparisons will get sharper each quarter.
What It Means for Businesses and Investors
- Investors: Cleaner comparisons across cloud providers make it easier to judge market share trends.
- Enterprise buyers: Strong growth signals continued heavy investment in cloud and AI infrastructure.
- Startups: More competition among the big three could mean better tools and more aggressive deals.
What to Watch Next
Keep an eye on AWS results, whether Azure’s growth holds near 48% and how Google Cloud’s faster growth rate plays out over the next few quarters.
Source: TechCrunch