By Daniel Howley
Publication Date: 2026-04-29 20:09:00
Microsoft (MSFT) reported its third quarter results after the bell on Wednesday, beating analysts’ expectations on the top and bottom lines, and said its AI business now has a $37 billion annual revenue run rate, up 123% year over year.
Microsoft stock initially climbed, but was down 1% in premarket trading as investors assessed its report.
Microsoft said its Copilot service now exceeds 20 million paid seats, up from the 15 million the company reported in Q2.
Ahead of earnings, Microsoft provided Wall Street with an update on its highest-profile AI relationship on Monday, saying that it reworked its agreement with OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) and will no longer have to make revenue-sharing payments to the AI startup, while OpenAI will continue making payments to Microsoft.
For the quarter, Microsoft saw earnings per share (EPS) of $4.27 on revenue of $82.89 billion. Wall Street was anticipating EPS of $4.04 on revenue of $81.46 billion, based on Bloomberg analyst…