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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Microsoft and Apple have different business engines: Microsoft sells cloud services, software and productivity tools across commercial and consumer markets, while Apple relies heavily on devices—especially the iPhone—alongside a large Services business. That difference shapes their growth drivers and risks, but FY2025 revenue and earnings alone cannot say which stock is the better investment. Microsoft’s FY2025 ended June 30, 2025, and Apple’s ended September 27, 2025; Microsoft has since filed its FY2026 Form 10-K, so the FY2025 figures below are a dated common-year comparison, not Microsoft’s latest annual results as of October 7, 2026.
How Microsoft and Apple make money
Microsoft’s FY2025 Annual Report groups its business into Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. Across those segments, it sells cloud computing and server software, productivity and business applications, LinkedIn and Dynamics offerings, Windows, gaming, devices and advertising. Cloud and AI are important growth and investment areas in the report.
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Apple sells iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Wearables, Home and Accessories products, as well as Services. In Apple’s FY2025 Form 10-K, iPhone remained its largest sales category, with Services a substantial second engine.
The mix suggests different kinds of concentration. Apple’s results are closely connected to consumer device demand and the iPhone product cycle, even as Services grows. Microsoft earns revenue across more product categories and commercial markets, but cloud and AI infrastructure investment has become increasingly central to its growth and margin story. This is an interpretation of the companies’ reported categories and disclosures, not a quantified forecast.
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FY2025 financial comparison
The companies’ fiscal years do not end on the same date. Microsoft FY2025 ended June 30, 2025; Apple FY2025 ended September 27, 2025. The figures below are reported by each company for its own fiscal year.
| Measure | Microsoft FY2025 | Apple FY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue / net sales | $281.724 billion (Microsoft Corporation, FY2025) | $416.161 billion (Apple Inc., FY2025) |
| Profit measure reported here | Operating income: $128.528 billion (Microsoft Corporation, FY2025) | Net income: $112.010 billion (Apple Inc., FY2025) |
| Highlighted business measure | Microsoft Cloud revenue: $168.9 billion; Azure and other cloud services revenue grew 34% (Microsoft Corporation, FY2025) | iPhone net sales: $209.586 billion; Services net sales: $109.158 billion (Apple Inc., FY2025) |
Revenue and net sales are the appropriate total-sales line items for this comparison. The profit figures are not like-for-like: Microsoft’s is operating income, while Apple’s is net income, which reflects additional items below operating income. They should not be treated as equivalent measures of profitability.
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Microsoft Cloud’s reported revenue was about 60% of Microsoft’s FY2025 revenue, calculated from the company’s $168.9 billion Cloud figure and $281.724 billion total revenue. Apple’s iPhone net sales were about 50% of its FY2025 net sales, and Services about 26%, calculated from Apple’s reported category figures and total net sales. These rounded shares illustrate the reported mix; they do not measure profit contribution or predict future results.
Microsoft’s FY2026 Form 10-K had been filed by October 7, 2026, but the detailed FY2026 figures are not included here. Use Microsoft’s FY2026 filing for its latest annual results rather than describing FY2025 as current. Apple’s figures above are from its FY2025 Form 10-K.
What could affect Microsoft’s business and stock?
Cloud and AI investment
Microsoft says investment in cloud and AI infrastructure can increase operating costs and reduce margins. Its FY2025 Annual Report also describes Microsoft Cloud gross-margin pressure associated with scaling AI infrastructure. Growth in cloud and AI revenue therefore needs to be considered alongside the spending required to provide that capacity.
Competition and changing customer preferences
Microsoft competes across software, devices and cloud services. The company’s FY2025 disclosures identify competition and changing customer preferences and technologies as risks to its business.
Regulation, trade and data-center capacity
Microsoft’s FY2025 Form 10-K discusses competition enforcement and emerging AI laws that could affect costs or operations. It also identifies exposure to trade restrictions, tariffs and export controls. Expanding data-center capacity depends on access to land, energy, networking and computing components, creating additional infrastructure and supply constraints to manage.
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iPhone demand and product cycles
Because iPhone is Apple’s largest FY2025 sales category, a weaker upgrade cycle, changing consumer preferences or stronger competition could weigh on results. That concentration risk is an inference from Apple’s reported sales mix and its stated competitive risks, rather than a company forecast of weaker demand.
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Manufacturing and supply chains
Apple’s FY2025 Form 10-K says a significant majority of its manufacturing is performed in whole or in part by outsourcing partners, with a large concentration in Asian countries. Disruption affecting partners or regional supply chains could affect production and product availability.
Tariffs, trade restrictions and regulation
Apple’s FY2025 filing says tariffs and other restrictions could increase costs, constrain component or product availability, require operational changes, or affect pricing and margins. The filing describes conditions at the time it was prepared; trade measures and their effects can change afterward. Apple also identifies antitrust, privacy, digital-platform, AI and other evolving rules as relevant to its global business.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to compare the stocks beyond headline totals
The filings identify the risk categories; how important each will prove to be is a judgment, not a quantified forecast. A business comparison can help clarify what to investigate, but it is not a substitute for current financial statements, valuation data or an investor’s own circumstances.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →- Revenue mix and concentration: Assess Apple’s dependence on iPhone and other devices against Microsoft’s cloud, software subscriptions, productivity tools and advertising.
- Growth and profitability: Look at which business lines are growing and whether profitability changes as Microsoft expands infrastructure spending. Compare equivalent profit measures rather than Microsoft operating income with Apple net income.
- Recurring revenue and customer relationships: Consider how cloud consumption, subscriptions and Services compare with periodic hardware purchases, while avoiding the assumption that all recurring revenue has the same economics.
- Investment burden: Examine the resources required to build data centers and AI services, and to develop, manufacture and support devices.
- Geography and supply chains: Consider where each company sells, manufactures, sources components and builds infrastructure, and how trade restrictions or geopolitical events could affect those activities.
- Regulatory and competitive pressure: Evaluate whether antitrust rules, AI regulation, platform rules or competitors could change product economics or access to customers.
What this comparison does—and does not—show
Microsoft’s 2025 shareholder letter described the company as being “in the midst of the AI platform shift.” That statement reflects Microsoft’s framing of its strategic opportunity; it does not establish that AI investment will generate a particular return. Apple’s formal disclosures are more useful here for identifying specific supply-chain, trade, competitive and regulatory exposures than for making a stock-price prediction.
This is a comparison of business models, reported FY2025 results and disclosed risks—not a current valuation comparison. No share prices, market capitalizations, valuation multiples or relative stock returns are provided, so the figures cannot establish which shares are cheaper or more likely to outperform. Any investment conclusion would also depend on current results, market expectations, price and the investor’s circumstances.
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