Tech giants' revenue increases sharply thanks to AI demand

On October 29, a series of large technology corporations including Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom announced their third quarter 2025 business results, showing a sharp increase in revenue thanks to the demand for artificial intelligence (AI), but huge investment costs made investors worried, causing many companies' stocks to fall after the trading session.

Microsoft Corporation logo. Photo: THX/TTXVN

Microsoft Corp. reported an 18% increase in quarterly revenue to $77.7 billion, beating analyst forecasts, driven largely by strong demand for its AI-enabled cloud services. Cloud revenue reached $49.1 billion (up 26%), with Azure up 40%.

However, Microsoft shares fell nearly 4% in after-hours trading on concerns about rising AI spending. The company reported a record $34.9 billion in capital expenditures in the quarter and expects that figure to increase in the current fiscal year.

Microsoft said investments in its data infrastructure and its 27% stake in OpenAI reduced net income by $3.1 billion. However, Microsoft's market capitalization still surpassed $4 trillion after the two sides renewed their cooperation agreement.

Chief financial officer Amy Hood said it was a “strong start to the fiscal year, exceeding expectations for revenue, operating profit and earnings per share.”

Meta Platforms Group, owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, reported a sharp drop in net profit due to a $16 billion special tax bill arising from the new US tax law. Excluding this factor, the company's profit was $18.6 billion.

Quarterly revenue rose 26% to $51.2 billion, beating forecasts, as Meta increased spending on AI and virtual reality (VR) devices. The company expects capital expenditures in 2025 to reach $70 billion to $72 billion, higher than previously expected.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has emphasized the goal of making the group the world's leading AI lab, with products aimed at personal superintelligence and an AI-integrated smartglasses platform. However, Reality Labs - in charge of developing VR/AR virtual reality technology - continues to suffer heavy losses.

In South Korea, Samsung Electronics Group announced its third-quarter net profit reached 12,220 billion won (8.6 billion USD), up 21% year-on-year, far exceeding analysts' expectations.

Revenue reached 86.06 trillion won ($60.5 billion, up 8.8%), with the semiconductor division recording a record profit of 7 trillion won ($5 billion), thanks to strong sales of HBM3E memory chips for AI data centers. Samsung also began shipping HBM4 samples to major customers.

The mobile division (DX) posted a profit of 3.6 trillion won ($2.5 billion), boosted by increased sales of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and tablets. However, the display (TV) division posted a loss of 100 billion won ($70.3 million) due to fierce competition.

In contrast to Samsung, SK Telecom - South Korea's largest carrier - posted a net loss of 166.7 billion won ($117 million) in the third quarter. Revenue fell 12.2 percent to 3.97 trillion won ($2.8 billion), significantly below market expectations.

The earnings of the “big guys” show that AI continues to be the main driver of global technology growth, especially in the fields of cloud computing and semiconductors. However, infrastructure investment costs and profit risks are making investors worried. Experts warn that the technology industry is entering its most expensive investment cycle, as businesses race to expand computing capacity to get ahead of the AI ​​era.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/doanh-thu-cac-ong-loncong-nghe-tang-manh-nho-nhu-cau-ai-20251030134642933.htm