Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told other executives and board members last year that the company was aiming for $500 billion in revenue by fiscal 2030, more than double its current size, according to a court filing released Monday. The remarks appeared in a memo released Monday. The memo was part of Microsoft’s hearing in federal court on its pending Activision Blizzard acquisition.
As one of the world’s largest companies by market capitalization, Microsoft doesn’t usually release financial projections for the future. In its latest earnings call, the company provided guidance only for the period ending in the current period, the fourth fiscal quarter.
In a newly disclosed 15-page memo and a 21-page document, Satya Nadella said Microsoft will achieve its fiscal 2030 goals “by implementing a growth-oriented, evolving strategy that is aligned with our enduring mission and culture.
Satya Nadella also forecasted shareholder returns, including dividends and buybacks.
In the document, dated June 7, 2022, he wrote: “We believe this ambition and approach will help us deliver annual returns to shareholders in excess of 10 percent over this period.”
Satya Nadella described a “20/20” goal of 20 percent year-over-year revenue growth and 20 percent operating profit growth in fiscal year 2022 and subsequent years. Microsoft’s financial results, released at the end of July last year, showed revenue growth of 18 percent to $198.27 billion and operating profit growth of 19 percent in fiscal 2022.
In the memo, Satya Nadella used the term “Microsoft+” to describe products aimed at consumers. But he said the main driver of growth was Microsoft Cloud, a term that refers to a range of products for business customers, including Azure public cloud (competing with Amazon AWS and Google Cloud), part of Microsoft 365 productivity software and part of LinkedIn.
In the accompanying document, Satya Nadella wrote, “Our top priority is to maintain above-market-rate growth to extend our lead over GCP and close the gap with AWS.”
