Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the company at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, on April 4, 2025.
David Ryder
Microsoft is set to report fiscal third-quarter results after market close on Wednesday.
Here’s what analysts are looking for, according to a consensus from LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $3.22
- Revenue: $68.42 billion
The revenue projection implies annual growth of 10.6%, which would be the slowest rate in two years. The past quarter will be important, but investors will be more focused on what Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says about business prospects for the rest of the year given President Donald Trump’s announced plans earlier this month for sweeping new tariffs on top trading partners.
While most of Microsoft’s revenue comes from software sales, the company purchases hefty amounts of equipment to provide services to clients. In April, two days after President Trump announced levies on goods imported to the U.S., former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told CNBC that tariffs were “not good.” Nadella said that, “whatever are the geopolitical or economic shifts, we’ll adjust to it.”
In January, Microsoft committed to $80 billion in capital spending for artificial intelligence data centers in the current fiscal year. CFO Amy Hood at the time called for a slowdown in capital spending growth for the upcoming 2026 fiscal year. Hood said that fiscal second-quarter revenue from Azure cloud services not tied to AI fell short of internal projections.
Nadella told analysts on the call that Microsoft was working to address the problem by adjusting sales incentives.
Analysts polled by StreetAccount and CNBC anticipate 30.3% and 29.7% Azure growth, respectively.
As of Tuesday’s close, Microsoft shares were down about 7% for the year, while the S&P 500 index was down 5%.
During the quarter, which ended on March 31, Microsoft announced an adjustment to its relationship with key AI partner OpenAI. The company said it would have a right of first refusal when OpenAI wants new computing capacity, but won’t always have to deliver it. On the same day, OpenAI announced the Stargate AI infrastructure project alongside Oracle and SoftBank at the White House.
Executives will issue guidance and discuss the results on a call with analysts starting at 5:30 p.m. ET.
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