The three biggest cloud computing providers all closed the same quarter on June 30 and reported it within about a week of one another in late July. The growth rates were not alike.
Alphabet (GOOG -0.05%)(GOOGL +0.06%) said Google Cloud revenue rose 82% year over year to $24.8 billion. Microsoft (MSFT +0.27%) reported 43% growth in Azure and other cloud services for the period, the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2026. And Amazon (AMZN -0.71%) said Amazon Web Services (AWS) revenue climbed 37% to $42.2 billion.
That last number is strong on its own. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy described the quarter as the unit’s “fastest growth in 18 quarters.” So the largest cloud provider just posted its best rate since late 2021 — and still grew at less than half Google Cloud’s pace.
What’s driving a gap that wide?
Image source: Getty Images.
Google Cloud keeps speeding up
The 82% is not a one-quarter spike. Google Cloud grew 63% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, and its $24.8 billion second…