BRIEFINGS · Cloud and AI compute providers
Microsoft says Azure passed $100 billion for the year and its backlog rose 84% to $678 billion
Microsoft said on 29 July Azure revenue passed $100 billion for the year, Azure grew 43%, and commercial backlog rose 84% to $678 billion.
In its fiscal fourth-quarter results on 29 July 2026, Microsoft said Azure and other cloud services revenue increased 43%, Microsoft Cloud revenue was $59.3 billion, up 27%, and commercial remaining performance obligation, its contracted backlog, increased 84% to $678 billion. CEO Satya Nadella said Azure revenue passed $100 billion for the first time this year and Microsoft 365 Copilot reached over 30 million paid seats, which he tied to customers' AI transformation. The release does not give an AI-only revenue figure. We file this because the company links the figures to AI in its own words and gives hard numbers. How we read it: customers are signing large, long contracts for cloud and AI. What would change this: backlog growth falling behind revenue growth. Why it matters to you: it shows the biggest cloud buyers are committing money well ahead of delivery.
What this doesn't prove
Company earnings release. The 84% backlog growth covers all commercial contracts, not AI alone, and no AI revenue figure is given. The quarter included a $3.2 billion gain from an Anthropic funding.
Next fixture
- Backlog growth next quarter
- Azure growth rate
- First results under the new segments
Sources
Every figure above comes from these sources. Every briefing is checked against its sources before it publishes. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell anything, and this is not investment advice. See the disclosures.
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