Prabhu RamMicrosoft reported strong FY22 results.
Driven by the continued shift to a hybrid/remote-first work and consequent solid demand for distributed computing fabric, Microsoft Cloud continued to gain momentum growing 32% YoY.
Beyond Cloud, I love the razor-sharp focus of Microsoft on steering “community-centric bets” that offer strong value; drives engagement as well as long-term revenue. These bets will continue to emerge as strong growth differentiators.
Take, for instance, Linkedin and Gaming:
Linkedin revenue increased 37% YoY.
Amidst the great pandemic-induced reboot, Linkedin has been posting record engagement, and will be a strong long-term bet for Microsoft’s play in social networks.
Gaming
Gaming evenue grew 8%. Xbox hardware revenue grew on continued strong demand, and better than anticipated console supply. X-Box content and services revenue increased 10%.
Some interesting gaming trends that highlight engagement and revenue growth:
▪️ >25Mn GamePass subscribers across PC and console.
▪️ 18Mn have played Forza Horizon 5 to date.
▪️ >20Mn have played Halo Infinite, “making it the biggest Halo launch in history.”
▪️ With nearly 400Mn MAUs that Activision Blizzard boasts of, Game Pass will continue to turbo-charge Microsoft’s growth in gaming.
Metaverse
Lastly, love how Satya Nadella defined Metaverse for gaming, Teams, and devices at the earnings call:
“Just like the first wave of the internet allowed everybody to build a website, I think the next wave of the internet will be a more open world where people can build their own metaverse worlds, whether they’re organizations or game developers or anyone else.”
