Microsoft posts $92.3bn quarterly revenue days after offering buyouts to 60,000 employees

Microsoft, the US technology company best known for office software, reported better than expected financial results for the September quarter on Wednesday, adding billions of dollars to its stock market value. The results came just days after the company offered voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees while it spends heavily on artificial intelligence.

Results beat forecasts

In a securities filing, Microsoft said total revenue for the quarter was $92.3bn and profit exceeded $36.6bn. Analysts surveyed by data firm FactSet had expected roughly $90.6bn in revenue and $35.1bn in profit.

Growth was driven by Azure, the company's cloud computing division, which expanded by 48% in the September quarter. Chief executive Satya Nadella said in a statement that Microsoft is delivering greater capability, choice, control and cost-efficiency to customers across its whole product stack.

Second departure offer this year

The voluntary buyout offer covers roughly a quarter of the company's workforce. It is the second such programme this year: in April, seven percent of Microsoft's US staff were given the option to retire early. According to regulatory filings, the company had 223,000 employees worldwide at the end of June, compared with 228,000 at the end of 2025.

New laptop built for AI chips

Earlier in October, Microsoft also announced a new Surface Ultra laptop that runs on Nvidia's artificial intelligence chips and will cost more than $2,500. Apple announced a similar touchscreen MacBook this week.

The launches are part of a wider push by technology companies to release hardware that can handle more AI computing on the device itself, offline, so users do not have to depend solely on remote data centres, where running AI is slower and more expensive.