Microsoft releases Q4 financial report: Net profit exceeded $16.4 billion

On July 27, Microsoft announced the fourth quarter and full-year financial results for the 2021 fiscal year. According to Microsoft’s official information, the total revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter was $46.152 billion, which was higher than the $38.033 billion in the same period of the previous year, an increase of 21% year-on-year; net profit was $16.458 billion, an increase of 47% from $11.202 billion in the same period last year. Microsoft’s revenue for the full fiscal year was $168.1 billion, an increase of 18% year on year, and its net profit was $61.2 billion, an increase of 28% year on year.

From a specific business perspective, services and other businesses are the main growth force of Microsoft’s Q4 financial report, with total revenue of $27.214 billion, an increase of 37% year on year. Next is the product business, with revenue of $18.938 billion, an increase of 4% from $18.147 billion in the same period last year. The smart cloud sector’s year-on-year growth rate was 30%, achieving revenue of $17.375 billion, operating profit was $7.787 billion, compared with $5.344 billion in the same period last year.

In addition, Microsoft’s software department has considerable revenue. The revenue of the productivity and business process department of the Microsoft Office suite was $14.691 billion, an increase of 25% year on year. The number of Microsoft 365 subscribers reached 51.9 million. Personal computing revenue was $14.086 billion, a slight year-on-year increase of 9%. Finally, the widely anticipated Azure revenue growth rate reached 51%, but this part of the company did not disclose detailed revenue.
Although most of the business growth is positive, this financial report is not all good news. Among them, due to the increasing shortage of chips, Microsoft’s Windows OEM business and Surface business for hardware manufacturers have shown a downward trend, with a decline of 3% and 20% respectively. In the environment of a continuous shortage of global chips, the weakness of the personal computer market will cause continued adverse effects.

Then there is the Xbox business that players are most concerned about. Microsoft said that game revenue in the fourth quarter increased by 11% over the same period last year, to about $357 million. Among them, Xbox’s hardware revenue increased by 172%. At the financial report meeting, CEO Nadella said that Xbox Series X/S is the fastest-selling console in the company’s history.