Microsoft Corp. MSFT -0.68% topped $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time as the software giant remakes itself from a legacy software provider into a power player in cloud computing.
Much of that growth has come from convincing customers who run Microsoft’s software in their own data centers to mix in cloud services, a business known as hybrid-cloud computing.
Revenue from server products and cloud services, a category that reflects Microsoft’s performance in the hybrid cloud, grew 26% in the fiscal fourth quarter. The company doesn’t disclose revenue for the segment.
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Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Brad Reback estimates revenue in the category hit $7.9 billion—“massive” growth, he said. Microsoft is “playing from their strength,” he said, by using traditional server software to lure longtime customers to the cloud.
Those sales helped Microsoft generate $30.09 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter, a 17% gain from a year ago, when measured using a new accounting standard the company adopted at the beginning of its fiscal year.
Microsoft had $8.87 billion in net income for the quarter, or $1.14 a share. When using the new accounting standard, Microsoft’s net income a year ago hit $8.07 billion, or $1.03 a share.
Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Market Intelligence expected Microsoft to report per-share earnings of $1.08 with revenue of $29.23 billion.
The performance of Microsoft’s Azure cloud-computing services, as well as its Office 365 online-productivity service for businesses, has pushed Microsoft shares to record highs over the last two weeks. Shares finished Thursday down less than a percent at $104.40, just off their peak of $106.40 set Tuesday. They rose slightly in after-hours trading.
The company’s Azure business is part of its Intelligent Cloud segment. Revenue from that unit rose 23% to $9.61 billion. Azure revenue grew 89%, compared with 93% three months ago—the first time the business has grown less than 90% since Microsoft began reporting the metric in October 2015.
The Office franchise is part of Microsoft’s Productivity and Business Processes segment. Revenue from that unit climbed 13% to $9.67 billion. The commercial version of its Office 365 online-productivity service climbed 38%, compared with 42% three months ago.
Write to Jay Greene at Jay.Greene@wsj.com