As the Q1 earnings season approached, investors braced for disappointing results from many industry leaders.
With President Donald Trump’s tariffs straining trade relations with China and creating high uncertainty for tech companies, many people found themselves with pressing questions and few answers. Specifically, they wondered not just which companies would be the most impacted by the trade war, but also which areas of tech would feel the most pain.
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As the reports start to pile up, it is clear that certain big tech companies have fared much better than others. While tariff fears still cloud the outlook for names such as Apple and Amazon (AMZN) , Microsoft (MSFT) has enjoyed notable growth, particularly from one key area that posted record revenue.
This sets a positive tone for the tech leader as it continues to navigate a challenging economy, but it also reveals the company may have a strong edge over its rivals.
Image source: Ben Kriemann/Getty Images
Microsoft vs. Google vs. Amazon has a clear winner for Q1
For many investors, Microsoft is likely the biggest standout of the Q1 2025 earnings season so far. Many members of the Magnificent 7, the group responsible for much of the sector’s growth, have reported, and Microsoft has given shareholders plenty of cause for optimism as it enters a new quarter.
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The company came in above analyst estimates on both revenue and adjusted earnings per share, primarily due to the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) adoption that continues to drive growth for tech companies. As TheStreet’s Rob Lenihan summarizes, “For Microsoft, blue is the new green.”
That refers to Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform designed for businesses and developers, named for the clear blue color of a cloudless sky. The unit reported 33% year-over-year (YOY) growth in Q1 and posted record revenue, making it clear that demand for its software and services remains extremely high.
Not only did Azure report notable growth for the second consecutive quarter, it outperformed its two biggest rivals. Both Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Alphabet’s Google Cloud failed to keep up with Microsoft’s cloud platform, reporting YOY growth of 17% and 28%, respectively.
This notable growth from Azure has prompted analysts to assess the reason it outperformed its rivals. Jefferies analyst Brent Thill speculates that it may not have been completely driven by Microsoft’s AI progress.
“Outperformance was driven by non-AI, which saw accelerated growth in cloud migrations from enterprise customers and execution improvements in non-AI [go-to-market],” he states. “On core cloud demand, MSFT pointed to accelerating demand for cloud migrations, strong data growth (ex. SNOW on Azure), and healthy core compute consumption from cloud-native players as key drivers.”
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Thill, who recently raised his Microsoft stock price target from $500 to $525, admits that Microsoft’s overall results were “a lot better than anyone thought.” The analyst maintains an Outperform rating on MSFT as well.
Multiple factors have contributed to Microsoft Azure’s success
That said, Azure also seems to have enjoyed the benefit of an increase in large enterprise migration activity.
This refers to the process of transferring a customer’s data from their own facilities to the cloud, a niche market of the tech sector that is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13% over the coming decade.
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“The migration explanation has become consensus…and in our view, Azure is indeed a disproportionate beneficiary of large SAP, Oracle, VMware and other workloads,” states UBS analyst Karl Keirstead.
While Microsoft’s Q1 earnings reveal a substantial lead over its cloud computing rivals, it should be noted that this three-way rivalry has existed for years. According to a post on Microsoft’s blog, “The original name Windows Azure was a deliberate response in competition to the Amazon EC2 and Google App Engine.”
While the software programs driving the companies forward have changed, years later, all three companies are still battling it out for the market, which continues to grow. However, Azure’s growth trend suggests that it is well-positioned to continue leading the pack.
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