Server products & cloud servicesWide moat

Microsoft (MSFT) — moat facet

Azure is growing faster every quarter at a lower gross margin every year; fiscal 2027 decides whether that is building ahead of demand or buying it.

Server products and cloud services is the largest thing Microsoft sells and the fastest-growing: $129.4 billion in fiscal 2026, 39% of the company1, up 31%2. Almost all of the growth is Azure. The line rose $31.0 billion; Azure and other cloud services grew 41% while the server software customers run on their own machines grew 1%3. In the June quarter Azure grew 43%, and Microsoft said its annual revenue had passed $100 billion for the first time4.

Server products and cloud services revenue by quarter ($B)22.2Q1'2523.6Q224.8Q327.9Q428.9Q1'2630.9Q232.6Q337.1Q4Microsoft 10-Qs; Q4 = fiscal year (10-K) less nine months
Every quarter of fiscal 2026 grew faster than the last, and June was 33% above a year before.

The 10-K describes two halves. Azure and other cloud services covers consumption-based cloud and AI services, GitHub's cloud services, the healthcare cloud that was Nuance, virtual desktops and other cloud services; Server products covers SQL Server, Windows Server, Visual Studio, System Center and the client access licences that go with them5. They are paid for differently. Azure is metered: its revenue is "mainly affected by infrastructure-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service consumption-based services"6. Server products are licences, sold through volume licensing programs, to manufacturers and as packaged products7. A customer moving a database from its own building to Azure moves revenue from one half to the other.

The line was $21.6 billion in fiscal 2017 and $32.6 billion in fiscal 2019 on the definition used then8, and $67.3 billion by fiscal 20229. It was bought as well as built: GitHub for $7.5 billion in October 201810 and Nuance for $18.8 billion in March 202211. The fiscal 2025 recast then moved pieces of Microsoft 365 out of it. The same fiscal 2023 is $79,970 million on the old basis and $65,007 million on the new one1213, so the long series and the current one cannot be joined.

On the current basis the line grew 22.8%, 23.3% and 31.5% in fiscal 2024, 2025 and 2026, about 25.8% a year compounded from $65.0 billion14. Azure's own growth ran 45% in fiscal 202215, 29% in fiscal 202316, 30% in fiscal 202417, 34% in fiscal 202518 and 41% in fiscal 202619. The weak year was fiscal 2023, when Azure slowed to 29% and server products fell 1%20. Fiscal 2026 went the other way: every quarter grew faster than the one before, from 30.3% in September to 33.1% in June21.

Microsoft reports no margin for the line. It sits in Intelligent Cloud with Enterprise and partner services, and that segment earned $56,972 million on $137,791 million of revenue in fiscal 2026, 41.3%22. The direction matters more than the level. The segment's cost of revenue rose 44% against revenue up 30%, and gross margin fell for the second year running23: 66.1% in fiscal 2024, 62.2% in fiscal 2025 and 58.0% in fiscal 202624. The filing gives the causes as "the continued investments in AI infrastructure as well as sales mix shift to Azure"25. Operating margin fell less, from 43.2% to 41.3% over the two years, because the segment's operating expenses grew only 7%26.

The on-premises half is running down slowly rather than collapsing. Server products revenue fell 3% in fiscal 2025, "with continued customer shift to cloud offerings"27, and rose 1% in fiscal 2026 on higher purchases of licences "running in multi-cloud environments"28. Windows Server 2025 lifted the September quarter29 and SQL Server 2025 the December quarter30. Those licences are the part of the line with almost no incremental cost, and they are a shrinking share of it.

The dollars make the acceleration plainer than the percentages. The line brought in $22.2 billion in the September 2024 quarter and $37.1 billion in the June 2026 quarter31, and it grew as a share of Microsoft from 30.7% of revenue in fiscal 2023 to 39.0% in fiscal 202632. Azure's revenue also counts toward Microsoft Cloud, the $214.4 billion figure that gathers the cloud parts of four lines33, so a single metered service now drives both the largest line and the company's headline cloud number.

The outlook turns on two pages that already exist: The Backlog That One Customer Filled, on what is inside the commercial backlog, and The AI Capex Bet, on the $115,948 million Microsoft spent on property and equipment in the year34. What this page adds is the shape of the line itself. It grows faster every quarter at a lower gross margin every year, which is either the cost of building ahead of demand or the price of winning it.

The fiscal 2027 gross margin of Intelligent Cloud decides which. A fourth year of decline with Azure still above 40% would say the growth is being paid for; a margin that turns up while growth holds would say the capacity is being filled.

Moat trajectory: Widening

Growth quickened in every quarter of fiscal 2026, from 30.3% to 33.1%, and Azure grew 43% in June. The offsetting fact is Intelligent Cloud's gross margin, down from 66.1% to 58.0% in two years.

The number that tests this moat
Moat Explorer calc
Intelligent Cloud gross margin
58.0% in FY2026, from 62.2% and 66.1%

The segment that holds Azure is growing 30% and keeping less of each dollar as AI infrastructure is built. A fourth year of decline with Azure still above 40% would say growth is being paid for; a turn upward would say the capacity is being filled.

How it's calculated: (Segment revenue - cost of revenue) / segment revenue: (137,791 - 57,876) / 137,791 in FY2026; (106,265 - 40,171) / 106,265 in FY2025; (87,464 - 29,611) / 87,464 in FY2024.
Source: Microsoft Forms 10-K, FY2025 and FY2026 (segment results) ↗
References
  1. ReportedServer products and cloud services is the largest thing Microsoft sells and the fastest-growing: $129.4 billion in fiscal 2026, 39% of the company, up 31%.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2026 — Note: revenue by significant product and service offering, FY2024-FY2026 (Server products and cloud services $129,425M / $98,435M / $79,828M; Microsoft 365 Commercial $101,997M / $87,767M / $76,969M; XBOX $21,790M / $23,455M / $21,503M; LinkedIn $19,817M / $17,812M / $16,372M; Windows and Devices $17,084M / $17,314M / $17,026M; Search advertising $15,176M / $13,878M / $12,306M; Microsoft 365 Consumer $9,175M / $7,404M / $6,648M; Dynamics $9,006M / $7,827M / $6,831M; Enterprise and partner services $8,260M / $7,760M / $7,594M; Other $109M / $72M / $45M; total $331,839M); Microsoft Cloud revenue $214.4B, $168.9B and $137.7B, drawn from four of the lines; additions to property and equipment $115,948M — FY2024-FY2026 · publ. July 29, 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedServer products and cloud services is the largest thing Microsoft sells and the fastest-growing: $129.4 billion in fiscal 2026, 39% of the company, up 31%.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2026 — Item 7 MD&A: segment results (Productivity and Business Processes revenue $139,996M, cost of revenue $25,017M, operating income $83,879M; Intelligent Cloud $137,791M, $57,876M, $56,972M; More Personal Computing $54,052M, $23,481M, $14,386M) and the drivers of each line: Server products and cloud services +$31.0B or 31% (Azure +41%, server products +1%); Microsoft 365 Commercial +$14.2B or 16% (cloud +17% on seats +6%, products +13%); Microsoft 365 Consumer +$1.8B or 24% (cloud +28% on subscribers +7%); LinkedIn +$2.0B or 11%; Dynamics +$1.2B or 15% (Dynamics 365 +18%); Enterprise and partner services +$500M or 6%; Windows and Devices -$230M or 1% (Windows OEM +5%); XBOX -$1.7B or 7% (content and services -5%, hardware -29%); Search advertising +$1.3B or 9% (ex-TAC +12%); the Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriber metric removed — FY2026 · publ. July 29, 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedThe line rose $31.0 billion; Azure and other cloud services grew 41% while the server software customers run on their own machines grew 1%.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2026 — Item 7 MD&A: segment results (Productivity and Business Processes revenue $139,996M, cost of revenue $25,017M, operating income $83,879M; Intelligent Cloud $137,791M, $57,876M, $56,972M; More Personal Computing $54,052M, $23,481M, $14,386M) and the drivers of each line: Server products and cloud services +$31.0B or 31% (Azure +41%, server products +1%); Microsoft 365 Commercial +$14.2B or 16% (cloud +17% on seats +6%, products +13%); Microsoft 365 Consumer +$1.8B or 24% (cloud +28% on subscribers +7%); LinkedIn +$2.0B or 11%; Dynamics +$1.2B or 15% (Dynamics 365 +18%); Enterprise and partner services +$500M or 6%; Windows and Devices -$230M or 1% (Windows OEM +5%); XBOX -$1.7B or 7% (content and services -5%, hardware -29%); Search advertising +$1.3B or 9% (ex-TAC +12%); the Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriber metric removed — FY2026 · publ. July 29, 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedIn the June quarter Azure grew 43%, and Microsoft said its annual revenue had passed $100 billion for the first time.
    Microsoft, Q4 FY2026 earnings release (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) — quarter ended June 30, 2026: revenue $90,007M (+18%); operating income $40,603M (+18%); net income $35,766M GAAP and $35,286M non-GAAP; diluted EPS $4.81 and $4.74; Microsoft Cloud revenue $59.3B (+27%); commercial remaining performance obligation +84% to $678B; Azure and other cloud services +43%; Productivity and Business Processes $37,847M (+14%); Intelligent Cloud $39,306M (+32%); More Personal Computing $12,854M (-4%); Windows OEM and Devices -7%; XBOX content and services -10%; a $3.2B gain on the investment in Anthropic and lower-than-expected Voluntary Retirement Program expenses contributing $0.27 of EPS against guidance; Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time and Microsoft 365 Copilot reached over 30 million paid seats; $10.2B returned to shareholders — Q4 FY2026 (quarter ended June 30, 2026) · publ. July 29, 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedAzure and other cloud services covers consumption-based cloud and AI services, GitHub's cloud services, the healthcare cloud that was Nuance, virtual desktops and other cloud services; Server products covers SQL Server, Windows Server, Visual Studio, System Center and the client access licences that go with them.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2026 — Item 1 Business: what each segment and line comprises, what drives each line's revenue (Azure consumption, per-user Microsoft 365 and Dynamics, Windows OEM licensing factors, XBOX content and subscriptions, LinkedIn's four products), the fiscal 2026 renaming of Gaming to XBOX and of Search and news advertising to Search advertising, and each line's competition — FY2026 · publ. July 29, 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedAzure is metered: its revenue is "mainly affected by infrastructure-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service consumption-based services".
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2026 — Item 1 Business: what each segment and line comprises, what drives each line's revenue (Azure consumption, per-user Microsoft 365 and Dynamics, Windows OEM licensing factors, XBOX content and subscriptions, LinkedIn's four products), the fiscal 2026 renaming of Gaming to XBOX and of Search and news advertising to Search advertising, and each line's competition — FY2026 · publ. July 29, 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedServer products are licences, sold through volume licensing programs, to manufacturers and as packaged products.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2026 — Item 1 Business: what each segment and line comprises, what drives each line's revenue (Azure consumption, per-user Microsoft 365 and Dynamics, Windows OEM licensing factors, XBOX content and subscriptions, LinkedIn's four products), the fiscal 2026 renaming of Gaming to XBOX and of Search and news advertising to Search advertising, and each line's competition — FY2026 · publ. July 29, 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedThe line was $21.6 billion in fiscal 2017 and $32.6 billion in fiscal 2019 on the definition used then, and $67.3 billion by fiscal 2022.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2019 — revenue by offering FY2017-FY2019 (Server products and cloud services $21,649M / $26,129M / $32,622M; Office products and cloud services $25,573M / $28,316M / $31,769M; Windows $18,593M / $19,518M / $20,395M; Gaming $9,051M / $10,353M / $11,386M; Search advertising $6,219M / $7,012M / $7,628M; LinkedIn $2,271M / $5,259M / $6,754M; Enterprise Services $5,542M / $5,846M / $6,124M); LinkedIn acquired 8 December 2016 for $27.0B; GitHub acquired 25 October 2018 for $7.5B — FY2017-FY2019 · publ. August 1, 2019 · source ↗
  9. ReportedThe line was $21.6 billion in fiscal 2017 and $32.6 billion in fiscal 2019 on the definition used then, and $67.3 billion by fiscal 2022.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2022 — revenue by offering FY2020-FY2022 (Server products and cloud services $41,379M / $52,589M / $67,321M; Office products and cloud services $44,862M in FY2022; Windows $24,761M; Gaming $11,575M / $15,370M / $16,230M; LinkedIn $8,077M / $10,289M / $13,816M; Search and news advertising $8,524M / $9,267M / $11,591M; Enterprise Services $6,409M / $6,943M / $7,407M); FY2022 drivers (Azure +45%, LinkedIn +34%, Office Consumer +11% with subscribers 59.7 million, Dynamics +25% on Dynamics 365 +39%, Windows OEM +11%, search +25% and ex-TAC +27%, Surface +3%); Nuance acquired 4 March 2022 for $18.8B; ZeniMax $8.1B; Xandr acquired 6 June 2022; LinkedIn over 850 million members — FY2020-FY2022 · publ. July 28, 2022 · source ↗
  10. ReportedIt was bought as well as built: GitHub for $7.5 billion in October 2018 and Nuance for $18.8 billion in March 2022.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2019 — revenue by offering FY2017-FY2019 (Server products and cloud services $21,649M / $26,129M / $32,622M; Office products and cloud services $25,573M / $28,316M / $31,769M; Windows $18,593M / $19,518M / $20,395M; Gaming $9,051M / $10,353M / $11,386M; Search advertising $6,219M / $7,012M / $7,628M; LinkedIn $2,271M / $5,259M / $6,754M; Enterprise Services $5,542M / $5,846M / $6,124M); LinkedIn acquired 8 December 2016 for $27.0B; GitHub acquired 25 October 2018 for $7.5B — FY2017-FY2019 · publ. August 1, 2019 · source ↗
  11. ReportedIt was bought as well as built: GitHub for $7.5 billion in October 2018 and Nuance for $18.8 billion in March 2022.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2022 — revenue by offering FY2020-FY2022 (Server products and cloud services $41,379M / $52,589M / $67,321M; Office products and cloud services $44,862M in FY2022; Windows $24,761M; Gaming $11,575M / $15,370M / $16,230M; LinkedIn $8,077M / $10,289M / $13,816M; Search and news advertising $8,524M / $9,267M / $11,591M; Enterprise Services $6,409M / $6,943M / $7,407M); FY2022 drivers (Azure +45%, LinkedIn +34%, Office Consumer +11% with subscribers 59.7 million, Dynamics +25% on Dynamics 365 +39%, Windows OEM +11%, search +25% and ex-TAC +27%, Surface +3%); Nuance acquired 4 March 2022 for $18.8B; ZeniMax $8.1B; Xandr acquired 6 June 2022; LinkedIn over 850 million members — FY2020-FY2022 · publ. July 28, 2022 · source ↗
  12. ReportedThe same fiscal 2023 is $79,970 million on the old basis and $65,007 million on the new one, so the long series and the current one cannot be joined.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2024 — revenue by offering FY2022-FY2024 on the pre-recast basis (Server products and cloud services $79,970M in FY2023; Office products and cloud services $54,875M in FY2024; Dynamics $4,687M in FY2022 and $5,437M in FY2023); FY2024 drivers (Azure +30%, seats +7%, Office 365 Commercial +16%, Office Commercial products -16%, Office Consumer +4% with subscribers 82.5 million, LinkedIn +9% across all four lines of business, Dynamics +19%, Windows OEM +7%, Devices -15%, Gaming +39% with 44 points of net impact from Activision Blizzard, Xbox hardware -13%, search ex-TAC +12%, Enterprise and partner services -4%); Activision Blizzard acquired 13 October 2023 for $75.4B — FY2022-FY2024 · publ. July 30, 2024 · source ↗
  13. ReportedThe same fiscal 2023 is $79,970 million on the old basis and $65,007 million on the new one, so the long series and the current one cannot be joined.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2025 — revenue by product and service offering on the recast basis, FY2023-FY2025 (Server products and cloud services $65,007M in FY2023; Windows and Devices $17,147M; Dynamics $5,796M; Enterprise and partner services $7,900M); the recast 'bringing the commercial components of Microsoft 365 together'; segment results FY2024-FY2025 (Intelligent Cloud revenue $87,464M and $106,265M, cost of revenue $29,611M and $40,171M, operating income $37,813M and $44,589M); FY2025 drivers (Azure +34%, server products -3%, Microsoft 365 Commercial cloud +15% on seats +6%, Office 2024, Microsoft 365 Consumer subscribers 89.0 million after the January 2025 price increase, Dynamics 365 +19%, Gaming +9% with Xbox content and services +16% and hardware -25%, search ex-TAC +20%); More Personal Computing goodwill acquired $51,235M — FY2023-FY2025 · publ. July 30, 2025 · source ↗
  14. Moat Explorer calcOn the current basis the line grew 22.8%, 23.3% and 31.5% in fiscal 2024, 2025 and 2026, about 25.8% a year compounded from $65.0 billion.
    Moat Explorer calculation from Microsoft Forms 10-K (FY2017-FY2026) and 10-Q (FY2025-FY2026): growth = year / prior year - 1 on the revenue-by-offering tables; compound rates = (end / start)^(1/years) - 1; quarterly revenue for the fourth quarter = fiscal-year revenue less the nine-month figure in the third-quarter 10-Q; segment margins = segment operating income / segment revenue and gross margin = (segment revenue - cost of revenue) / segment revenue (Intelligent Cloud $57,853M / $87,464M = 66.1% in FY2024, $66,094M / $106,265M = 62.2% in FY2025, $79,915M / $137,791M = 58.0% in FY2026); share of FY2026 growth = line increase / total increase of $50,115M (Server products and cloud services $30,990M plus Microsoft 365 Commercial $14,230M = 90.2%); shares of revenue = line / total — FY2017-FY2026 · publ. 2026 · source ↗
    Method: Moat Explorer calculation from the revenue-by-offering tables and segment results in Microsoft's Forms 10-K and 10-Q; see the source line for the method.
  15. ReportedAzure's own growth ran 45% in fiscal 2022, 29% in fiscal 2023, 30% in fiscal 2024, 34% in fiscal 2025 and 41% in fiscal 2026.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2022 — revenue by offering FY2020-FY2022 (Server products and cloud services $41,379M / $52,589M / $67,321M; Office products and cloud services $44,862M in FY2022; Windows $24,761M; Gaming $11,575M / $15,370M / $16,230M; LinkedIn $8,077M / $10,289M / $13,816M; Search and news advertising $8,524M / $9,267M / $11,591M; Enterprise Services $6,409M / $6,943M / $7,407M); FY2022 drivers (Azure +45%, LinkedIn +34%, Office Consumer +11% with subscribers 59.7 million, Dynamics +25% on Dynamics 365 +39%, Windows OEM +11%, search +25% and ex-TAC +27%, Surface +3%); Nuance acquired 4 March 2022 for $18.8B; ZeniMax $8.1B; Xandr acquired 6 June 2022; LinkedIn over 850 million members — FY2020-FY2022 · publ. July 28, 2022 · source ↗
  16. ReportedAzure's own growth ran 45% in fiscal 2022, 29% in fiscal 2023, 30% in fiscal 2024, 34% in fiscal 2025 and 41% in fiscal 2026.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2023 — FY2023 drivers (Azure +29%, server products -1%, Office 365 Commercial +13% on seats +11%, Office Commercial products -21%, Office Consumer +2% with subscribers 67.0 million, LinkedIn +10% on Talent Solutions and over 950 million members, Dynamics +16% on Dynamics 365 +24%, Windows OEM -25% and Devices -24% on elevated channel inventory, Gaming -5%, search +5% and ex-TAC +11% helped by Xandr, Enterprise Services +4% with Industry Solutions formerly Microsoft Consulting Services) — FY2023 · publ. July 27, 2023 · source ↗
  17. ReportedAzure's own growth ran 45% in fiscal 2022, 29% in fiscal 2023, 30% in fiscal 2024, 34% in fiscal 2025 and 41% in fiscal 2026.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2024 — revenue by offering FY2022-FY2024 on the pre-recast basis (Server products and cloud services $79,970M in FY2023; Office products and cloud services $54,875M in FY2024; Dynamics $4,687M in FY2022 and $5,437M in FY2023); FY2024 drivers (Azure +30%, seats +7%, Office 365 Commercial +16%, Office Commercial products -16%, Office Consumer +4% with subscribers 82.5 million, LinkedIn +9% across all four lines of business, Dynamics +19%, Windows OEM +7%, Devices -15%, Gaming +39% with 44 points of net impact from Activision Blizzard, Xbox hardware -13%, search ex-TAC +12%, Enterprise and partner services -4%); Activision Blizzard acquired 13 October 2023 for $75.4B — FY2022-FY2024 · publ. July 30, 2024 · source ↗
  18. ReportedAzure's own growth ran 45% in fiscal 2022, 29% in fiscal 2023, 30% in fiscal 2024, 34% in fiscal 2025 and 41% in fiscal 2026.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2025 — revenue by product and service offering on the recast basis, FY2023-FY2025 (Server products and cloud services $65,007M in FY2023; Windows and Devices $17,147M; Dynamics $5,796M; Enterprise and partner services $7,900M); the recast 'bringing the commercial components of Microsoft 365 together'; segment results FY2024-FY2025 (Intelligent Cloud revenue $87,464M and $106,265M, cost of revenue $29,611M and $40,171M, operating income $37,813M and $44,589M); FY2025 drivers (Azure +34%, server products -3%, Microsoft 365 Commercial cloud +15% on seats +6%, Office 2024, Microsoft 365 Consumer subscribers 89.0 million after the January 2025 price increase, Dynamics 365 +19%, Gaming +9% with Xbox content and services +16% and hardware -25%, search ex-TAC +20%); More Personal Computing goodwill acquired $51,235M — FY2023-FY2025 · publ. July 30, 2025 · source ↗
  19. ReportedAzure's own growth ran 45% in fiscal 2022, 29% in fiscal 2023, 30% in fiscal 2024, 34% in fiscal 2025 and 41% in fiscal 2026.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2026 — Item 7 MD&A: segment results (Productivity and Business Processes revenue $139,996M, cost of revenue $25,017M, operating income $83,879M; Intelligent Cloud $137,791M, $57,876M, $56,972M; More Personal Computing $54,052M, $23,481M, $14,386M) and the drivers of each line: Server products and cloud services +$31.0B or 31% (Azure +41%, server products +1%); Microsoft 365 Commercial +$14.2B or 16% (cloud +17% on seats +6%, products +13%); Microsoft 365 Consumer +$1.8B or 24% (cloud +28% on subscribers +7%); LinkedIn +$2.0B or 11%; Dynamics +$1.2B or 15% (Dynamics 365 +18%); Enterprise and partner services +$500M or 6%; Windows and Devices -$230M or 1% (Windows OEM +5%); XBOX -$1.7B or 7% (content and services -5%, hardware -29%); Search advertising +$1.3B or 9% (ex-TAC +12%); the Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriber metric removed — FY2026 · publ. July 29, 2026 · source ↗
  20. ReportedThe weak year was fiscal 2023, when Azure slowed to 29% and server products fell 1%.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2023 — FY2023 drivers (Azure +29%, server products -1%, Office 365 Commercial +13% on seats +11%, Office Commercial products -21%, Office Consumer +2% with subscribers 67.0 million, LinkedIn +10% on Talent Solutions and over 950 million members, Dynamics +16% on Dynamics 365 +24%, Windows OEM -25% and Devices -24% on elevated channel inventory, Gaming -5%, search +5% and ex-TAC +11% helped by Xandr, Enterprise Services +4% with Industry Solutions formerly Microsoft Consulting Services) — FY2023 · publ. July 27, 2023 · source ↗
  21. Moat Explorer calcFiscal 2026 went the other way: every quarter grew faster than the one before, from 30.3% in September to 33.1% in June.
    Moat Explorer calculation from Microsoft Forms 10-K (FY2017-FY2026) and 10-Q (FY2025-FY2026): growth = year / prior year - 1 on the revenue-by-offering tables; compound rates = (end / start)^(1/years) - 1; quarterly revenue for the fourth quarter = fiscal-year revenue less the nine-month figure in the third-quarter 10-Q; segment margins = segment operating income / segment revenue and gross margin = (segment revenue - cost of revenue) / segment revenue (Intelligent Cloud $57,853M / $87,464M = 66.1% in FY2024, $66,094M / $106,265M = 62.2% in FY2025, $79,915M / $137,791M = 58.0% in FY2026); share of FY2026 growth = line increase / total increase of $50,115M (Server products and cloud services $30,990M plus Microsoft 365 Commercial $14,230M = 90.2%); shares of revenue = line / total — FY2017-FY2026 · publ. 2026 · source ↗
    Method: Moat Explorer calculation from the revenue-by-offering tables and segment results in Microsoft's Forms 10-K and 10-Q; see the source line for the method.
  22. Moat Explorer calcIt sits in Intelligent Cloud with Enterprise and partner services, and that segment earned $56,972 million on $137,791 million of revenue in fiscal 2026, 41.3%.
    Moat Explorer calculation from Microsoft Forms 10-K (FY2017-FY2026) and 10-Q (FY2025-FY2026): growth = year / prior year - 1 on the revenue-by-offering tables; compound rates = (end / start)^(1/years) - 1; quarterly revenue for the fourth quarter = fiscal-year revenue less the nine-month figure in the third-quarter 10-Q; segment margins = segment operating income / segment revenue and gross margin = (segment revenue - cost of revenue) / segment revenue (Intelligent Cloud $57,853M / $87,464M = 66.1% in FY2024, $66,094M / $106,265M = 62.2% in FY2025, $79,915M / $137,791M = 58.0% in FY2026); share of FY2026 growth = line increase / total increase of $50,115M (Server products and cloud services $30,990M plus Microsoft 365 Commercial $14,230M = 90.2%); shares of revenue = line / total — FY2017-FY2026 · publ. 2026 · source ↗
    Method: Moat Explorer calculation from the revenue-by-offering tables and segment results in Microsoft's Forms 10-K and 10-Q; see the source line for the method.
  23. ReportedThe segment's cost of revenue rose 44% against revenue up 30%, and gross margin fell for the second year running: 66.1% in fiscal 2024, 62.2% in fiscal 2025 and 58.0% in fiscal 2026.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2026 — Item 7 MD&A: segment results (Productivity and Business Processes revenue $139,996M, cost of revenue $25,017M, operating income $83,879M; Intelligent Cloud $137,791M, $57,876M, $56,972M; More Personal Computing $54,052M, $23,481M, $14,386M) and the drivers of each line: Server products and cloud services +$31.0B or 31% (Azure +41%, server products +1%); Microsoft 365 Commercial +$14.2B or 16% (cloud +17% on seats +6%, products +13%); Microsoft 365 Consumer +$1.8B or 24% (cloud +28% on subscribers +7%); LinkedIn +$2.0B or 11%; Dynamics +$1.2B or 15% (Dynamics 365 +18%); Enterprise and partner services +$500M or 6%; Windows and Devices -$230M or 1% (Windows OEM +5%); XBOX -$1.7B or 7% (content and services -5%, hardware -29%); Search advertising +$1.3B or 9% (ex-TAC +12%); the Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriber metric removed — FY2026 · publ. July 29, 2026 · source ↗
  24. Moat Explorer calcThe segment's cost of revenue rose 44% against revenue up 30%, and gross margin fell for the second year running: 66.1% in fiscal 2024, 62.2% in fiscal 2025 and 58.0% in fiscal 2026.
    Moat Explorer calculation from Microsoft Forms 10-K (FY2017-FY2026) and 10-Q (FY2025-FY2026): growth = year / prior year - 1 on the revenue-by-offering tables; compound rates = (end / start)^(1/years) - 1; quarterly revenue for the fourth quarter = fiscal-year revenue less the nine-month figure in the third-quarter 10-Q; segment margins = segment operating income / segment revenue and gross margin = (segment revenue - cost of revenue) / segment revenue (Intelligent Cloud $57,853M / $87,464M = 66.1% in FY2024, $66,094M / $106,265M = 62.2% in FY2025, $79,915M / $137,791M = 58.0% in FY2026); share of FY2026 growth = line increase / total increase of $50,115M (Server products and cloud services $30,990M plus Microsoft 365 Commercial $14,230M = 90.2%); shares of revenue = line / total — FY2017-FY2026 · publ. 2026 · source ↗
    Method: Moat Explorer calculation from the revenue-by-offering tables and segment results in Microsoft's Forms 10-K and 10-Q; see the source line for the method.
  25. ReportedThe filing gives the causes as "the continued investments in AI infrastructure as well as sales mix shift to Azure".
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2026 — Item 7 MD&A: segment results (Productivity and Business Processes revenue $139,996M, cost of revenue $25,017M, operating income $83,879M; Intelligent Cloud $137,791M, $57,876M, $56,972M; More Personal Computing $54,052M, $23,481M, $14,386M) and the drivers of each line: Server products and cloud services +$31.0B or 31% (Azure +41%, server products +1%); Microsoft 365 Commercial +$14.2B or 16% (cloud +17% on seats +6%, products +13%); Microsoft 365 Consumer +$1.8B or 24% (cloud +28% on subscribers +7%); LinkedIn +$2.0B or 11%; Dynamics +$1.2B or 15% (Dynamics 365 +18%); Enterprise and partner services +$500M or 6%; Windows and Devices -$230M or 1% (Windows OEM +5%); XBOX -$1.7B or 7% (content and services -5%, hardware -29%); Search advertising +$1.3B or 9% (ex-TAC +12%); the Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriber metric removed — FY2026 · publ. July 29, 2026 · source ↗
  26. Moat Explorer calcOperating margin fell less, from 43.2% to 41.3% over the two years, because the segment's operating expenses grew only 7%.
    Moat Explorer calculation from Microsoft Forms 10-K (FY2017-FY2026) and 10-Q (FY2025-FY2026): growth = year / prior year - 1 on the revenue-by-offering tables; compound rates = (end / start)^(1/years) - 1; quarterly revenue for the fourth quarter = fiscal-year revenue less the nine-month figure in the third-quarter 10-Q; segment margins = segment operating income / segment revenue and gross margin = (segment revenue - cost of revenue) / segment revenue (Intelligent Cloud $57,853M / $87,464M = 66.1% in FY2024, $66,094M / $106,265M = 62.2% in FY2025, $79,915M / $137,791M = 58.0% in FY2026); share of FY2026 growth = line increase / total increase of $50,115M (Server products and cloud services $30,990M plus Microsoft 365 Commercial $14,230M = 90.2%); shares of revenue = line / total — FY2017-FY2026 · publ. 2026 · source ↗
    Method: Moat Explorer calculation from the revenue-by-offering tables and segment results in Microsoft's Forms 10-K and 10-Q; see the source line for the method.
  27. ReportedServer products revenue fell 3% in fiscal 2025, "with continued customer shift to cloud offerings", and rose 1% in fiscal 2026 on higher purchases of licences "running in multi-cloud environments".
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2025 — revenue by product and service offering on the recast basis, FY2023-FY2025 (Server products and cloud services $65,007M in FY2023; Windows and Devices $17,147M; Dynamics $5,796M; Enterprise and partner services $7,900M); the recast 'bringing the commercial components of Microsoft 365 together'; segment results FY2024-FY2025 (Intelligent Cloud revenue $87,464M and $106,265M, cost of revenue $29,611M and $40,171M, operating income $37,813M and $44,589M); FY2025 drivers (Azure +34%, server products -3%, Microsoft 365 Commercial cloud +15% on seats +6%, Office 2024, Microsoft 365 Consumer subscribers 89.0 million after the January 2025 price increase, Dynamics 365 +19%, Gaming +9% with Xbox content and services +16% and hardware -25%, search ex-TAC +20%); More Personal Computing goodwill acquired $51,235M — FY2023-FY2025 · publ. July 30, 2025 · source ↗
  28. ReportedServer products revenue fell 3% in fiscal 2025, "with continued customer shift to cloud offerings", and rose 1% in fiscal 2026 on higher purchases of licences "running in multi-cloud environments".
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2026 — Item 7 MD&A: segment results (Productivity and Business Processes revenue $139,996M, cost of revenue $25,017M, operating income $83,879M; Intelligent Cloud $137,791M, $57,876M, $56,972M; More Personal Computing $54,052M, $23,481M, $14,386M) and the drivers of each line: Server products and cloud services +$31.0B or 31% (Azure +41%, server products +1%); Microsoft 365 Commercial +$14.2B or 16% (cloud +17% on seats +6%, products +13%); Microsoft 365 Consumer +$1.8B or 24% (cloud +28% on subscribers +7%); LinkedIn +$2.0B or 11%; Dynamics +$1.2B or 15% (Dynamics 365 +18%); Enterprise and partner services +$500M or 6%; Windows and Devices -$230M or 1% (Windows OEM +5%); XBOX -$1.7B or 7% (content and services -5%, hardware -29%); Search advertising +$1.3B or 9% (ex-TAC +12%); the Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriber metric removed — FY2026 · publ. July 29, 2026 · source ↗
  29. ReportedWindows Server 2025 lifted the September quarter and SQL Server 2025 the December quarter.
    Microsoft Form 10-Q, quarter ended 30 September 2025 — revenue by offering for the quarter and a year earlier, and the drivers (Azure +40%, Windows Server 2025, Windows OEM +18% ahead of Windows 10 end of support, Xbox hardware -29%, LinkedIn +10% on Marketing Solutions, search ex-TAC +16%, Microsoft 365 Commercial products +17% on Office 2024, Industry Solutions decline) — Q1 FY2026 · publ. October 29, 2025 · source ↗
  30. ReportedWindows Server 2025 lifted the September quarter and SQL Server 2025 the December quarter.
    Microsoft Form 10-Q, quarter ended 31 December 2025 — revenue by offering for the quarter, six months and a year earlier, and the drivers (Azure +39%, SQL Server 2025, Windows OEM +5% with continued benefit from Windows 10 end of support, Xbox hardware -32%, LinkedIn +11% on Marketing Solutions, search ex-TAC +10%, impairment charges in Gaming) — Q2 FY2026 · publ. January 28, 2026 · source ↗
  31. Moat Explorer calcThe line brought in $22.2 billion in the September 2024 quarter and $37.1 billion in the June 2026 quarter, and it grew as a share of Microsoft from 30.7% of revenue in fiscal 2023 to 39.0% in fiscal 2026.
    Moat Explorer calculation from Microsoft Forms 10-K (FY2017-FY2026) and 10-Q (FY2025-FY2026): growth = year / prior year - 1 on the revenue-by-offering tables; compound rates = (end / start)^(1/years) - 1; quarterly revenue for the fourth quarter = fiscal-year revenue less the nine-month figure in the third-quarter 10-Q; segment margins = segment operating income / segment revenue and gross margin = (segment revenue - cost of revenue) / segment revenue (Intelligent Cloud $57,853M / $87,464M = 66.1% in FY2024, $66,094M / $106,265M = 62.2% in FY2025, $79,915M / $137,791M = 58.0% in FY2026); share of FY2026 growth = line increase / total increase of $50,115M (Server products and cloud services $30,990M plus Microsoft 365 Commercial $14,230M = 90.2%); shares of revenue = line / total — FY2017-FY2026 · publ. 2026 · source ↗
    Method: Moat Explorer calculation from the revenue-by-offering tables and segment results in Microsoft's Forms 10-K and 10-Q; see the source line for the method.
  32. Moat Explorer calcThe line brought in $22.2 billion in the September 2024 quarter and $37.1 billion in the June 2026 quarter, and it grew as a share of Microsoft from 30.7% of revenue in fiscal 2023 to 39.0% in fiscal 2026.
    Moat Explorer calculation from Microsoft Forms 10-K (FY2017-FY2026) and 10-Q (FY2025-FY2026): growth = year / prior year - 1 on the revenue-by-offering tables; compound rates = (end / start)^(1/years) - 1; quarterly revenue for the fourth quarter = fiscal-year revenue less the nine-month figure in the third-quarter 10-Q; segment margins = segment operating income / segment revenue and gross margin = (segment revenue - cost of revenue) / segment revenue (Intelligent Cloud $57,853M / $87,464M = 66.1% in FY2024, $66,094M / $106,265M = 62.2% in FY2025, $79,915M / $137,791M = 58.0% in FY2026); share of FY2026 growth = line increase / total increase of $50,115M (Server products and cloud services $30,990M plus Microsoft 365 Commercial $14,230M = 90.2%); shares of revenue = line / total — FY2017-FY2026 · publ. 2026 · source ↗
    Method: Moat Explorer calculation from the revenue-by-offering tables and segment results in Microsoft's Forms 10-K and 10-Q; see the source line for the method.
  33. ReportedAzure's revenue also counts toward Microsoft Cloud, the $214.4 billion figure that gathers the cloud parts of four lines, so a single metered service now drives both the largest line and the company's headline cloud number.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2026 — Note: revenue by significant product and service offering, FY2024-FY2026 (Server products and cloud services $129,425M / $98,435M / $79,828M; Microsoft 365 Commercial $101,997M / $87,767M / $76,969M; XBOX $21,790M / $23,455M / $21,503M; LinkedIn $19,817M / $17,812M / $16,372M; Windows and Devices $17,084M / $17,314M / $17,026M; Search advertising $15,176M / $13,878M / $12,306M; Microsoft 365 Consumer $9,175M / $7,404M / $6,648M; Dynamics $9,006M / $7,827M / $6,831M; Enterprise and partner services $8,260M / $7,760M / $7,594M; Other $109M / $72M / $45M; total $331,839M); Microsoft Cloud revenue $214.4B, $168.9B and $137.7B, drawn from four of the lines; additions to property and equipment $115,948M — FY2024-FY2026 · publ. July 29, 2026 · source ↗
  34. ReportedThe outlook turns on two pages that already exist: The Backlog That One Customer Filled, on what is inside the commercial backlog, and The AI Capex Bet, on the $115,948 million Microsoft spent on property and equipment in the year.
    Microsoft Form 10-K, FY2026 — Note: revenue by significant product and service offering, FY2024-FY2026 (Server products and cloud services $129,425M / $98,435M / $79,828M; Microsoft 365 Commercial $101,997M / $87,767M / $76,969M; XBOX $21,790M / $23,455M / $21,503M; LinkedIn $19,817M / $17,812M / $16,372M; Windows and Devices $17,084M / $17,314M / $17,026M; Search advertising $15,176M / $13,878M / $12,306M; Microsoft 365 Consumer $9,175M / $7,404M / $6,648M; Dynamics $9,006M / $7,827M / $6,831M; Enterprise and partner services $8,260M / $7,760M / $7,594M; Other $109M / $72M / $45M; total $331,839M); Microsoft Cloud revenue $214.4B, $168.9B and $137.7B, drawn from four of the lines; additions to property and equipment $115,948M — FY2024-FY2026 · publ. July 29, 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 22, 2026