What is Microsoft's intelligent cloud — deferred revenue?

Microsoft (MSFT) reported intelligent cloud — deferred revenue of $11.43B in Q4 2025.

How has Microsoft's intelligent cloud — deferred revenue changed year-over-year?

Microsoft's intelligent cloud — deferred revenue increased by 4.1% year-over-year, from $10.98B to $11.43B.

What is the long-term trend for Microsoft's intelligent cloud — deferred revenue?

Over 4 years (2021 to 2025), Microsoft's intelligent cloud — deferred revenue has grown at a -5.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $61.47B to $48.35B.

What does intelligent cloud — deferred revenue mean?

This is money customers have paid upfront for cloud services and software that Microsoft hasn't fully delivered yet.

Intelligent Cloud — Deferred Revenue

Business Segments · Deferred Revenue

Microsoft Intelligent Cloud — Deferred Revenue decreased by 9.7% to $11.43B in Q4 2025 compared to the prior quarter. Year-over-year, this metric grew by 4.1%, from $10.98B to $11.43B. Over 4 years (FY 2021 to FY 2025), Intelligent Cloud — Deferred Revenue shows a downward trend with a -5.8% CAGR. This decline may warrant attention — for this metric, higher values are generally preferred.

Analysis

StatementSegment

CategoryGrowth

SignalHigher is better

VolatilityModerate

First reportedQ2 2017

Last reportedQ4 2025

How to read this metric

An increase suggests strong sales momentum and growing multi-year commitments from enterprise customers, while a decrease may indicate a slowdown in new contract signings or faster revenue recognition than new bookings.

Detailed definition

This metric represents the deferred revenue or unearned income specifically associated with Microsoft's Intelligent Clou...

Peer comparison

Similar to Deferred Revenue or Unearned Revenue at cloud-computing peers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google Cloud.

Metric ID: msft_segment_intelligent_cloud_contract_with_customer_liability

Historical Data

19 periods

	Q2 '21	Q3 '21	Q4 '21	Q1 '22	Q2 '22	Q3 '22	Q4 '22	Q1 '23	Q2 '23	Q3 '23	Q4 '23	Q1 '24	Q2 '24	Q3 '24	Q4 '24	Q1 '25	Q2 '25	Q3 '25	Q4 '25
Value	$17.71B	$16.12B	$14.55B	$14.52B	$19.37B	$17.29B	$15.82B	$15.55B	$21.56B	$19.47B	$17.70B	$16.70B	$13.68B	$12.40B	$10.98B	$10.24B	$14.02B	$12.66B	$11.43B
QoQ Change	—	-9.0%	-9.7%	-0.2%	+33.4%	-10.7%	-8.5%	-1.7%	+38.7%	-9.7%	-9.1%	-5.7%	-18.0%	-9.4%	-11.4%	-6.7%	+36.9%	-9.7%	-9.7%
YoY Change	—	—	—	—	+9.4%	+7.3%	+8.7%	+7.1%	+11.3%	+12.6%	+11.8%	+7.4%	-36.5%	-36.3%	-38.0%	-38.7%	+2.5%	+2.1%	+4.1%

Range$10.24B – $21.56B

CAGR-9.3%

Avg YoY Growth-4.3%

Median YoY Growth+7.1%

Current Streak2 quarters decline

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Microsoft's intelligent cloud — deferred revenue?: Microsoft (MSFT) reported intelligent cloud — deferred revenue of $11.43B in Q4 2025.
How has Microsoft's intelligent cloud — deferred revenue changed year-over-year?: Microsoft's intelligent cloud — deferred revenue increased by 4.1% year-over-year, from $10.98B to $11.43B.
What is the long-term trend for Microsoft's intelligent cloud — deferred revenue?: Over 4 years (2021 to 2025), Microsoft's intelligent cloud — deferred revenue has grown at a -5.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $61.47B to $48.35B.
What does intelligent cloud — deferred revenue mean?: This is money customers have paid upfront for cloud services and software that Microsoft hasn't fully delivered yet.