📰 Big Tech Earnings Night: Microsoft Copilot Hits 20M Paid Users, AWS Grows 28%

On April 29, 2026, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta all reported their quarterly earnings simultaneously, presenting a complex picture of AI investment and returns.

Microsoft: Copilot Users Surge

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced during the earnings call that Microsoft 365 Copilot now has 20 million paid enterprise seats. The number of companies paying for over 50,000 seats has quadrupled, with Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Mercedes, and Roche each holding more than 90,000 seats.

Nadella emphasized that engagement levels now match Outlook: “Copilot queries per user were up nearly 20% quarter over quarter. Weekly engagement is now at the same level as Outlook. This is like a daily habit of intense usage.” Microsoft has also made Agent mode the default experience across Copilot, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss called the numbers “super impressive and way ahead of most people’s expectations.”

Amazon: AWS Strong Growth, But Free Cash Flow Under Pressure

Amazon Web Services (AWS) saw net sales increase 28% year-over-year to $37.6 billion, the fastest growth rate in 15 quarters. CEO Andy Jassy said, “We’ve never seen a technology grow as rapidly as AI.”

However, massive capital expenditures are pressuring free cash flow. Amazon’s trailing twelve-month free cash flow dropped to $1.2 billion, a 95% decline from $25.9 billion in the same period last year. Jassy argued this is a normal phase of high-growth cycles, noting that data center assets have useful lives exceeding 30 years.

Amazon’s overall revenue rose 17% to $181.5 billion.

Meta: AR/VR Burn Continues, Shares Slide

Meta’s Reality Labs division continues to post significant losses, and investor enthusiasm for AI spending is cooling. Following the earnings release, Meta shares slid, reflecting market concerns about the return timeline for Big Tech’s AI investments.

Overall, the Big Tech earnings results confirm strong demand for AI infrastructure investment, but also raise questions about whether the capital outlays will translate into sustainable revenue growth.

Source: TechCrunch - Microsoft, TechCrunch - Amazon, BBC