Samwise High Tech Recruiting Newsletter
Thursday, July 30, 2026
Microsoft LinkedIn Revenue Climbs 12% as Azure Crosses $100B and Copilot Reaches 30 Million Paid Seats
Microsoft closed fiscal year 2026 with its strongest-ever cloud results, posting fourth-quarter revenue of $90 billion—up 18% year-over-year. LinkedIn revenue grew 12% in the quarter (10% in constant currency), signaling sustained enterprise demand for the talent platform. Azure and other cloud services surged 43% in Q4, with CEO Satya Nadella confirming Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the full fiscal year—a first for the company. Microsoft 365 Copilot crossed 30 million paid seats, reflecting growing enterprise adoption of AI productivity tools. Microsoft Cloud revenue reached $59.3 billion in Q4, up 27%, as commercial remaining performance obligations jumped 84% to $678 billion.
Sources: Microsoft Source
Meta Books $1.18B in Severance as May Workforce Reduction Ripples Through Q2 Results
Meta’s second quarter 2026 results revealed the financial toll of its May workforce restructuring: $1.18 billion in severance expenses pushed total costs and expenses up 55% year-over-year to $42.0 billion. Revenue grew 28% to $60.8 billion, but operating margin compressed from 43% to 31% as operating income fell 8%. Headcount stood at 75,472 as of June 30—down 1% year-over-year—with approximately 8,000 employees impacted by the May reduction still reflected in reported headcount. Free cash flow fell to $784 million from $8.55 billion a year prior. Meta guided full-year 2026 capital expenditures of $130–145 billion.
Sources: Meta Investor Relations
Zuckerberg Predicts Billions Will Have Personal AI Agents Within Five Years as Meta Onboards 1M Businesses
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg used the company’s Q2 2026 earnings call to predict that billions of people will have personal AI agents within the next five years—covering finances, health, interpersonal relationships, and household management. Meta’s business AI agents, rolled out globally on WhatsApp and Messenger this quarter, have been adopted by more than one million businesses. Zuckerberg said WhatsApp is “already the leading platform where users interact with Meta AI.” Meta and BlackRock also announced a partnership this week to build a $14 billion data center in El Paso, Texas. Meta’s stock dropped nearly 10% after the Q2 earnings announcement.
Sources: TechCrunch
Microsoft Books $3.2B Gain on Anthropic Bet While Writing Down OpenAI Investment $600M in Q4
Microsoft’s fourth-quarter FY2026 results revealed a stark contrast between its two AI lab investments. The company booked a $3.2 billion gain on its Anthropic stake—acquired for $5 billion in November 2025 as part of an arrangement under which Anthropic also committed to purchasing $30 billion in Azure services. That gain boosted diluted EPS by $0.33. Meanwhile, Microsoft marked down its OpenAI investment approximately $600 million, shaving about $0.07 from diluted EPS. Microsoft owns approximately 27% of OpenAI. For the full fiscal year, the OpenAI investment generated a $5 billion gain. Microsoft reported Q4 net income of $35.8 billion.
Sources: TechCrunch
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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