{"slug": "microsoft-crushes-q3-earnings-expectations-as-ai-business-hits-37-billion-run", "title": "Microsoft crushes Q3 earnings expectations as AI business hits $37 billion run rate", "summary": "Microsoft reported fiscal Q3 2026 revenue of $82.9 billion, beating the $81.4 billion consensus, and earnings per share of $4.27 versus the $4.06 estimate, driven by its AI business reaching an annual revenue run rate of $37 billion, up 123% year-over-year. Azure grew 40% year-over-year, and Microsoft Cloud revenue hit $54.5 billion, a 29% increase. The company also signed a $9.7 billion AI cloud deal with bitcoin miner IREN to repurpose its data center infrastructure for Azure AI workloads.", "body_md": "Via news.microsoft.com\n\n# Microsoft crushes Q3 earnings expectations as AI business hits $37 billion run rate\n\nThe tech giant's cloud and AI segments powered a massive beat, with a quiet $9.7 billion deal connecting it to bitcoin mining infrastructure\n\nMicrosoft just dropped a fiscal Q3 2026 earnings report that made Wall Street’s estimates look conservative. Revenue came in at $82.9 billion, comfortably ahead of the $81.4 billion consensus, while earnings per share landed at $4.27 versus the $4.06 analysts had penciled in.\n\nMicrosoft’s AI business has reached an annual revenue run rate of $37 billion. That’s up 123% year-over-year.\n\nAzure, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, grew 40% year-over-year. Microsoft Cloud revenue overall hit $54.5 billion for the quarter, representing a 29% increase from the same period last year. Total company revenue grew 18% year-over-year.\n\nMicrosoft signed a $9.7 billion AI cloud deal with IREN, a company better known in crypto circles as a bitcoin miner. IREN operates data center infrastructure that was originally built for cryptocurrency mining. The deal essentially repurposes that infrastructure for AI workloads running on Azure.\n\nMicrosoft’s earnings materials didn’t mention any specific cryptocurrency tokens or blockchain metrics. The company isn’t holding Bitcoin on its balance sheet or launching a stablecoin.\n\nLooking ahead, Microsoft’s fiscal Q4 results are expected on July 29, 2026. Consensus estimates project revenue of $87.4 billion and EPS of $4.23, implying continued growth in the 13-15% range.\n\n**Disclosure:** This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our\n\n[Editorial Policy](https://cryptobriefing.com/editorial-policy/).", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/microsoft-crushes-q3-earnings-expectations-as-ai-business-hits-37-billion-run", "canonical_source": "https://cryptobriefing.com/microsoft-q3-earnings-ai-bitcoin-mining/", "published_at": "2026-07-29 20:11:02+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-29 20:34:20.048678+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-products"], "entities": ["Microsoft", "Azure", "IREN"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/microsoft-crushes-q3-earnings-expectations-as-ai-business-hits-37-billion-run", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/microsoft-crushes-q3-earnings-expectations-as-ai-business-hits-37-billion-run.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/microsoft-crushes-q3-earnings-expectations-as-ai-business-hits-37-billion-run.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/microsoft-crushes-q3-earnings-expectations-as-ai-business-hits-37-billion-run.jsonld"}}