New York (EFE).- Alphabet and Microsoft, two of the main technology multinationals, present their results for the first quarter of 2023, focusing on the artificial intelligence revolution.
The American technology company Microsoft announced a net profit of 52,280 million dollars in the first nine months of its fiscal year, 6.6% less than in the same period of the previous year, but exceeded market expectations thanks mainly to its cloud business.
In those nine months, until March 31, the giant led by Satya Nadella had a turnover of 155,726 million dollars, compared to 146,405 million dollars the previous year.
In the three most recent months, data to which the markets paid the most attention, Microsoft had a turnover of 52,857 million dollars.
7% more in the year-on-year comparison, and a net profit of 18,299 million, 9% more.
Microsoft takes aim at AI
Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud unit, which includes the Azure platform and other products, pulled the results, with a 16% growth in its turnover, to more than 22,000 million dollars.
The accounts of the Productivity and Processes unit were also positive, which billed 11% more to 17,500 million, while other divisions saw setbacks.
In its presentation, Microsoft once again highlighted the revolution that is taking place in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), for which it is betting big, including a multi-billion dollar investment that it announced this year in the company OpenAi. , creator of the predictive chat ChatGPT.
“The most advanced AI models are being combined with the most universal user interface, natural language, to create a new era in computing,” Nadella said in a statement.
The president and CEO of Microsoft highlighted that the company’s cloud platform is currently the favorite to “help customers get the most value from their digital cat and innovate for this new generation of AI.”
Alphabet earns 15.051 million dollars
The technology company Alphabet, Google’s parent company, earned 15,051 million dollars (13,716 million euros) in the first quarter of 2023, 8.4% less year-on-year.
The company’s turnover rose 2.6% compared to the same period of the previous year and stood at 69,787 million dollars, mainly thanks to its search engine and its business in the cloud.
Like Microsoft, Alphabet points to collaboration between DeepMind, its artificial intelligence (AI) research subsidiary, and its Google services, cloud and “other bets” divisions.
In this sense, he highlighted that his cloud, Google Cloud, which rivals the leading services of Amazon and Microsoft, showed benefits for the first time, of 191 million dollars, with sales of 7,450 million.
Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai applauded the results, noting its recent developments in advanced computing and AI, calling the company “big opportunities” for innovation.
Closing on Wall Street for Microsoft and Alphabet
Apart from that, Alphabet pointed out that between January and March it has recorded charges of 2,600 million for the reduction of its workforce – in January it announced 12,000 layoffs – and its office spaces.
It also said that it has cut its costs for amortization of resources by 988 million, which has translated into a higher-than-expected profit figure.
On the other hand, it announced that its board of directors has authorized a share repurchase worth 70,000 million dollars, along the same lines as a year ago, despite a more complex economic environment.
After the results were known, at the close of Wall Street, Alphabet shares rose around 4% in a good reaction from investors. The listed company has risen almost 18% on the stock market this year.
For their part, Microsoft accounts exceeded market expectations and the company’s shares rose more than 4.5% in electronic operations after the closing of Wall Street, where they had finished the session in the red before the results were known. .