Microsoft Vs. Google Vs. AWS: Q3 2023 Cloud Earnings Face-Off

CRN provides a head-to-head comparison of AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft’s cloud revenue, sales growth, market share and more based off recent Q3 2023 earnings results.

Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, the world’s three dominant market leaders in cloud computing have all reported their quarterly financial earnings for the third quarter of 2023.

Some highlights include Google Cloud’s positive net income for a third straight quarter and AWS continuing a relatively sluggish sales growth compared to its past while still remaining the global leader in cloud services, according to new market share data from Synergy Research Group.

In total, the three cloud leaders generated nearly $56 billion in revenue during the third quarter. Google and Amazon unveiled their Q3 2023 earnings results, which ended September 30, 2023. In the same three-month span, it represented Microsoft’s first fiscal quarter 2024.

CRN compared a side-by-side comparison of each company’s: sales growth rates, total revenue, operating income, parent company financial results and brand new Q3 2023 market share data.

Microsoft, AWS And Google’s Q3 2023 Market Share

Before comparing earnings results from Google, Microsoft and AWS, let’s take a quick look at the third quarter 2023 cloud market.

Worldwide spending on enterprise cloud infrastructure services hit $68.1 billion in Q3 2023, up $10.5 billion year over year, according to Synergy data. This represents a year over year growth rate of 18 precent. In aggregate, Google Cloud, AWS and Microsoft accounted for 66 percent of the worldwide market.

It is key to note that Microsoft does not provide to the public its Azure sales figures. Instead, Microsoft combines Azure, server product and other cloud services revenue all under its Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud umbrella.

CRN breaks down the five biggest revenue, sales growth, operating income and new Q3 2023 worldwide cloud market share numbers that every Microsoft, AWS and Google Cloud partner, customer and investor needs to know.

Q3 Total Revenue / Annual Run Rate

AWS: $23.1 Billion / $92.4 Billion

Microsoft: $24.3 Billion / $97.2 Billion

Google Cloud: $8.4 Billion / $33.6 Billion

AWS generated total revenue of $23.1 billion in the third quarter of 2023. The world’s largest cloud company now has a $92.4 billion annual run rate.

Google Cloud captured $8.4 billion in total sales during Q3 2023. Google’s popular cloud company now has an annual run rate of $33.6 billion.

Microsoft does not provide to the public its Azure sales figures. Instead, Microsoft combines Azure, server product and other cloud services revenue all under its Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud umbrella.

Mcirosoft’s Intelligent Cloud group generated $24.3 billion in revenue during its fourth fiscal quarter 2023. This means its intelligent cloud segment has an annual run rate of over $97 billion.

Sales Growth

Google Cloud: 22 percent

Microsoft: 19 percent

AWS: 12 percent

Google Cloud witnessed the largest revenue growth percentage year over year at 22 percent on total sales of $8.4 billion. In Q3 2022, Google Cloud generated sales of just under $6.9 billion.

With revenue of $24.3 billion, Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud segment increased sales year over year by 19 percent. In Q1 2023, the cloud segment reported sales of $20.3 billion.

AWS had the slowest growth rate out of the three cloud market leaders at 12 percent growth year over year on revenue of $23.1 billion. In Q3 2022, AWS reported $20.5 billion in total sales.

Worldwide Cloud Market Share Q3 2023

AWS: 32 percent

Microsoft: 23 percent

Google Cloud: 11 percent

Global enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure services hit $68 billion in the third quarter of 2023, according to new market data from Synergy Research Group.

AWS was once again the worldwide market leader in cloud services by capturing 32 percent share in Q3 2023.

Microsoft ranked No. 2 in the cloud market by winning 23 percent share during the quarter.

Google Cloud came in third place by capturing 11 percent market share.

AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft, combined, accounted for 66 percent of the $68 billion global cloud services market.

Operating Income

Microsoft: $11.7 Billion

AWS: $7 Billion

Google Cloud: $266 Million

AWS’ operating income grew by approximately 30 percent year over as the cloud company generated $7 billion in operating income, compared to $5.4 billion in Q3 2022.

Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud business reported operating income of $11.7 billion for Q1 2024, up from roughly $9 billion in Q1 2023. This represents a year over year increase of 30 percent.

Google Cloud’s operating income was $266 million for the third quarter, up from a loss of $440 million year over year. The quarter represented the third time in a row Google Cloud reported a profit.

Parent Company Results; CEO’s AI Statements

Amazon: $143 Billion

AWS parent company Amazon reported net sales increased by 13 percent year over year to $143 billion in third quarter 2023. The net income for Amazon was $9.9 billion. AWS generated $7 billion in operating income, meaning AWS was Amazon’s most profitable business.

“The AWS team continues to innovate and deliver at a rapid clip, particularly in generative AI, where the combination of our custom AI chips, Amazon Bedrock being the easiest and most flexible way to build and deploy generative AI applications, and our coding companion (CodeWhisperer) allowing enterprises to have the equivalent of an experienced engineer who understands all of their proprietary code is driving momentum with customers, including adidas, Booking.com, GoDaddy, LexisNexis, Merck, Royal Philips, and United Airlines, all of whom are starting to run generative AI workloads on AWS,” said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.

Google/Alphabet: $76.7 Billion

Google Cloud’s parent company generated $76.7 billion in revenues during Q3 2023, representing a 11 percent increase year over year. Net income was $19.7 billion for Google, up from $13.9 billion year over year.

Google Cloud’s $266 million of operating income had little impact on its parent company’s net income.

“I’m pleased with our financial results and our product momentum this quarter, with AI-driven innovations across Search, YouTube, Cloud, our Pixel devices and more,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said. “We’re continuing to focus on making AI more helpful for everyone; there’s exciting progress and lots more to come.”

Microsoft: $56.5 billion

In total, Microsoft captured $56.5 billion in sales during the quarter, representing an increased of 13 percent year over year. Net income for the software giant was $22.3 billion, up 27 percent year over year.

With Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud group’s net income of $11.7 billion represented roughly half of the company’s total net income.

“With copilots, we are making the age of AI real for people and businesses everywhere,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “We are rapidly infusing AI across every layer of the tech stack and for every role and business process to drive productivity gains for our customers.”