Inside Microsoft: Cloud continues to be a stalwart for the tech giant
jewhyte
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) finished its fiscal 2023 year with strong results across the board, but a deeper look shows the company's Intelligent Cloud division is the star of the show. 
Intelligent Cloud, which is comprised of Azure, server products and other cloud services, generated $23.99B in revenue during the quarter, up 15% year-over-year and 17% in constant currency. Azure, which competes with Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Cloud Platform and other cloud service providers, continued to be exceptional, with 26% growth.
Here is a breakdown of Microsoft's revenue by segment:

On the company's earnings call, CEO Satya Nadella said the tech giant is "in the lead" when it comes to AI workloads in the cloud, which is where the vast majority of this type of work occurs. 
Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft's (MSFT) fourth-quarter results were also aided by the Productivity and Business Processes segment, which generated $18.3B in sales, up 10% year-over-year.
Included in Productivity and Business Processes was a 12% year-over-year rise in Office Commercial, while Dynamics 365 saw revenue growth of 26% over the same time frame. LinkedIn, its business-focused social network, had a 5% jump in sales, or 7% in constant currency.
However, the company's More Personal Computing segment continued to struggle, as revenue fell 4% year-over-year to $13.9N, led by a 12% decrease in Windows-related revenue. Device revenue also fell 20%, while Xbox and search and advertising revenue were two standouts, with riving rising 5% and 8%, respectively. 
But it's the company's Intelligent Cloud unit, with Azure accounting for more than 50% of Microsoft's (MSFT) total $110B in cloud-related revenue in fiscal 2023, that is the star of the show. 
And with the company's strong push into generative artificial intelligence, with workloads still largely done in the cloud, Azure appears positioned to make further gains.
Analysts are largely cautious on Microsoft (MSFT). It has a BUY rating from Seeking Alpha authors, while Wall Street analysts rate it a BUY. Conversely, Seeking Alpha's quant system, which consistently beats the market, rates MSFT a HOLD.
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