Latest news with #AaronJudge-like
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Microsoft is cutting 3% of its workforce with across-the-board layoffs
Microsoft (MSFT) is laying off about 3% of its workforce, its largest headcount cut in more than two years. The layoffs have not been formally announced via press release or SEC filing but were first reported on Tuesday. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that it's laying off about 3% of its global workforce. With around 228,000 employees worldwide, the move will impact nearly 7,000 people — making it the company's largest round of layoffs since it cut 10,000 roles in early 2023. Microsoft framed the move as part of 'organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace.' (What, not 'vibrant' or 'robust'?) Unlike a smaller round of performance-based cuts in January, these layoffs are not tied to individual performance. A Microsoft spokesperson said the company is working to reduce layers of management and adjust its structure amid ongoing platform shifts. The news comes just weeks after Microsoft delivered what Wedbush dubbed an 'Aaron Judge-like' earnings performance that helped reset the narrative around AI monetization. Revenue hit $70.1 billion, up 13%, with Azure and other cloud revenue growing 33% year-over-year, a better clip than some analysts predicted. Nearly half of that cloud growth came from AI workloads. Microsoft stock is up around 6% year to date, and up over 200% since the pandemic-era stock lows of 2020. The tech industry has been through a sweeping labor reset since 2023, when giants like Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), and Google (GOOGL) began unwinding what some observers believed was pandemic-era overhiring. Amazon cut more than 27,000 roles in waves, Meta laid off over 21,000 employees during its so-called 'year of efficiency,' and Microsoft eliminated 10,000 positions, marking its biggest workforce reduction in years. Google's parent company Alphabet let go of 12,000 employees, while Salesforce (CRM), Spotify (SPOT), and Lyft (LYFT) also trimmed deeply. By 2024, layoffs grew more selective as leadership leaned into artificial intelligence and long-term profitability. Mass cuts gave way to more surgical trims, with companies saying sayonara to low-priority initiatives or those misaligned with fresh strategic visions. Meta pulled back in Reality Labs and infrastructure, Amazon slimmed down parts of AWS and retail tech, and Salesforce restructured to 'focus on the core,' often shorthand for shedding teams that no longer fit the investor story. While the headline-grabbing rounds mostly subsided, the pruning seems to have never really stopped. Tech firms have quietly kept reshaping their org charts, thinning layers, and reallocating headcount toward AI-driven bets. White-collar workers' group chats everywhere remain alight with news of cuts or threatened cuts. Tuesday's move by Microsoft slots cleanly into the narrative. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Microsoft is stealing Amazon's thunder in the cloud — and AI
With almost $10 trillion in combined market cap across Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), and Meta (META), last week's Big Tech earnings weren't just dry corporate updates. They were market-moving events. And despite a few wobbles, the takeaway is clear: AI momentum and operational efficiency are driving a new wave of tech profitability, even as tariffs loom and economic uncertainty lingers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the widening gap between Wall Street and Main Street, the shift to AI-powered enterprise is shaping up as the gold rush of this decade. Microsoft led the charge, with the stock jumping more than 11% for the week, fueled by surging cloud and AI demand — and management's clear, detailed take on both in the earnings call. Amazon, for its part, whipsawed before and after its earnings report, but closed the week up about 1%, buoyed by strong margin growth. Only Apple stock slipped, falling 2% as investors weighed a cautious June quarter outlook and a potential $900 million tariff hit. Together, the releases and earnings calls painted a nuanced but largely bullish picture of where Big Tech is headed — and how it's already reshaping both the market and the macro narrative. If there was one company that seized the AI narrative last week, it was Microsoft. The company delivered a blowout quarter — and an even more confident call — that made clear it's not just riding the AI boom, but helping define it. Azure cloud revenue grew 33% year-over-year, reaccelerating from the previous quarter and beating both internal targets and Wall Street estimates. Almost half of that growth came from AI workloads — a level of transparency that reinforced Microsoft's clout in the enterprise AI stack. CEO Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood leaned into the idea that AI and non-AI workloads are increasingly indistinguishable, especially among digital-native customers building everything on unified infrastructure. Microsoft's $80 billion forecast for fiscal 2025 capital expenditures remains intact, with plans to expand further in 2026 — quieting any talk of a slowdown in data center investment. Wedbush called it an 'Aaron Judge-like quarter' and raised its price target 8.4% to $515. Crucially, Microsoft didn't just post strong results — it articulated a confident, forward-looking vision of how AI is already translating into revenue. In a week where every tech CEO had to tell an AI story, Microsoft made its pitch look not just polished, but inevitable. Amazon's first-quarter results were strong by the numbers: Revenue rose 9% to $155.7 billion, net income rose to $1.59 per share, and operating margins hit a record 11.8%, largely on the back of AWS, Amazon's profit engine. But with initiatives spanning AI chips, Alexa upgrades, Project Kuiper satellites, Prime Day savings on snail-mucin moisturizers, and even a new James Bond film, Amazon remains a catch-all for tech's most ambitious threads — which may make its story harder to parse for investors. CEO Andy Jassy emphasized Amazon's ability to thrive even in a softening economy, pointing to consumer demand strength, faster Prime delivery, and $500 million in customer savings during global sales events. He struck a confident tone on AWS as well, convincinly describing it as a 'multi-hundred-billion-dollar' opportunity over time. Still, the cloud business grew just 17% year-over-year — solid, especially off a large base, but slower than Azure's 33%, and short of the expectations that Microsoft's blowout quarter had quietly raised. Analysts flagged uncertainty around near-term earnings power, as well as questions about potential tariff impacts and the timeline for Kuiper's returns. As Deutsche Bank (DB) put it, Amazon's sheer scale helps it weather global disruption — but that same sprawl can make it tough to gauge momentum or profitability with precision. AWS remains the largest cloud provider — a position it's held for over a decade, a default authority — and management cited capacity constraints as a limiting factor, though relief may come in the second half of the year. Certainly, the stakes couldn't be higher. As Jassy noted, we're still in the early innings of enterprise's move to the cloud — and that migration is accelerating, powered by AI. Enterprise tech may be the biggest market opportunity of this era, and in that context, 'lumpy revenue' is both expected and fair. But with Microsoft setting the pace and reframing what success looks like, Amazon's longtime dominance feels just a bit less assured. In the meantime, Amazon is betting that its everything-now strategy will pay off later. Of course, this isn't a zero-sum game: The enterprise AI market is big enough to crown multiple winners, and both Microsoft and Amazon will undoubtedly be among the biggest. But in a moment where narrative clarity matters, Microsoft pulled ahead. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Microsoft stock surges 9% as Azure earnings smash expectations and the AI boom rolls on
Microsoft (MSFT) stock rose sharply Thursday morning, a day after the tech giant blew past Wall Street's expectations in its fiscal third-quarter earnings report. The stock was up about 9% in mid-morning trading. It's now up about 3% so far this year, having fully recovered from April's trade war-induced bloodbath in tech stocks. Microsoft racked up $70.1 billion in revenue, up 13%, and $25.8 billion in net income, up 18%, fueled by relentless demand for cloud and AI. Earnings came in at $3.46 per share, easily topping consensus estimates of $3.22. Microsoft's quarter drew gushing praise from analysts both on and off the earnings call, with Wedbush calling it 'an Aaron Judge-like performance' (referring to the New York Yankees slugger). Azure beat both the Street and internal targets, with AI workloads accounting for nearly half the cloud platform's growth. The company reaffirmed its $80 billion FY25 capital expenditures forecast and said infrastructure investments will continue to rise in FY26 — putting to rest speculation about data center cutbacks. Microsoft's cloud engine kept roaring in Q3, with Azure and other cloud services surging 33% year-over-year, powering a 21% increase in the all-important Intelligent Cloud segment, which hit $26.8 billion. Server product revenue rose 22% as demand for AI infrastructure stayed hot. The Productivity and Business Processes segment brought in $29.9 billion, up 10% from last year, driven by steady growth in Microsoft 365 and Dynamics. Microsoft 365 Commercial revenue rose 11%, with its cloud-based suite climbing 12%, while consumer revenue grew 10%. Dynamics 365 jumped 16%, lifting Dynamics overall by 11%. On anearnings call, executives offered a confident and detailed account of accelerating enterprise demand. CFO Amy Hood emphasized that while most of the quarter's upside came from non-AI services, digital-native companies are increasingly building everything — AI or not — in Azure. The result: a seamless pipeline converting Microsoft's massive capital expenditures into revenue faster than skeptics expected. Wedbush raised its price target on the stock 8.4%, from $475 to $515, noting that chatter around potential data center pullbacks is now 'put to rest.' As the line between AI and non-AI workloads continues to blur — and AI demand proves strong even amid an uncertain macro picture — Microsoft looks to be increasingly positioning itself as the core infrastructure provider of the AI era. In other words, hyperscaling has arrived — and it seems here to stay. —Catherine Baab contributed to this article. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Stock shrug off recession alarms as Big Tech earnings blow off the roof
U.S. stock futures soared Thursday morning, lifted by blockbuster earnings from Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META) that seemed strong enough to overshadow Wednesday's unexpected GDP contraction. With Big Tech's collective market cap nearing $10 trillion, investor sentiment looked ready to ride the rally — if Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) can stick the landing after Thursday's close. Unsurprisingly, the Nasdaq was leading the charge, up 1.8% premarket. The S&P was up 1.2%, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.8%. Delivering their latest quarterlies after Wednesday's bell, Microsoft and Meta both crushed expectations. Microsoft's Azure cloud revenue surged 33% year-over-year, driving an 18% jump in earnings per share. Meta posted a staggering 89% profit increase on 27% revenue growth. Microsoft stock was up 9% before the bell Thursday. Shares of Meta added more than 6%. The underlying strength of both reports has markets betting that Amazon, as another 'hyperscaler' helping bigwig enterprise customers get in on the AI revolution, will keep the momentum going. Apple, with its different mix of exposure to consumer spending, tariffs, and trade winds, was down about 1.5%. Microsoft's quarter drew gushing praise from analysts both on and off the earnings call, with Wedbush calling it 'an Aaron Judge-like performance' (referring to the New York Yankees slugger). Azure beat both the Street and internal targets, with AI workloads accounting for nearly half the cloud platform's growth. The company reaffirmed its $80 billion FY25 capex forecast and said infrastructure investments will continue to rise in FY26 — putting to rest speculation about data center cutbacks. Wedbush raised its price target from $475 to $515. Meta stock jumped after hours as the company reported EPS of $6.43 on revenue of $42.3 billion, beating estimates on both the top and bottom lines. 'While many companies have held back guidance amid tariff uncertainty, META did — a bullish sign,' Zacks strategist Andrew Rocco said. The company's Q2 revenue forecast of $42.5 to $45.5 billion topped Street estimates, and planned 2025 capital expenditures of $64 to 72 billion suggest Meta is betting big on sustained AI demand. Even after the Senate narrowly rejected a bipartisan push to block Trump's new tariffs, trade tensions remain unresolved. U.S. Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi Greer said there are 'no official talks yet' with China — though smaller deals with other nations may materialize in the coming weeks. The ongoing ambiguity continues to haunt earnings calls and cloud forward guidance, and both Amazon and Apple will likely have to mention the elephant as they report later today. McDonald's missed earnings expectations as global sales fell, revenue declined, and U.S. same-store sales lagged, with the company pointing to wary consumers and geopolitical headwinds. Harley-Davidson (HOG), meanwhile, pulled its full-year guidance altogether after international sales tumbled — citing the growing weight of global trade uncertainty. These warnings reinforce that tariff fears aren't just weighing on Wall Street — they're reshaping strategy in C-suites across America. And it's not just large caps like McDonald's feeling the strain. The Russell 2000, a barometer of small-cap performance, is down 13.5% so far this year — by far the hardest hit of the four major indexes. It's a reminder that smaller companies, lacking the pricing power and global leverage of Big Tech, may be the sheer most vulnerable. A Wall Street Journal report suggesting Tesla's (TSLA) board began looking to replace Elon Musk 'about a month ago' was later denied by the board. Musk recently announced he'd been spending more time on Tesla, however. Tesla stock was down about 1.5% premarket. Airbnb (ABNB), Amgen (AMGN), MercadoLibre (MELI), and Eli Lilly (LLY) will also report on Thursday. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) is set to report Friday. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Sign in to access your portfolio
