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Microsoft posted quarterly results better than expected on Wednesday, while its cloud division declared a robust growth in high demand for services related to artificial intelligence, soothing fears of a slowdown.
Revenues increased by 13% during the quarter at the end of March compared to the same period of the previous year to $ 70.1 billion. Net profit increased by 18% to 25.8 billion dollars. The two figures exceeded the average estimate in an alpha visible S&P survey.
Microsoft’s shares have jumped up to 9% of trade after working hours in New York, adding around $ 260 billion in market value. The shares had dropped by 6% since the end of 2024 when investors weighed the impact of the prices of US President Donald Trump on global supply chains and American economic growth.
Cloud computing services have increased by 20% compared to a year ago to $ 42.4 billion, largely in accordance with expectations. The unit that houses its Cloud Azure platform had missed expectations during the previous quarter, which has sold the shares.
“The main emphasis was on the growth of Azure” which “considerably beaten disorder expectations,” said Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow. “The great improvement in the AI contribution shows the high potential of AI once [more] The capacity becomes available. “”
Microsoft’s capital expenses – equipment expenses and other significant investments – were $ 21.4 billion in the quarter, compared to $ 14 billion in the same period a year earlier.
The chief executive officer Satya Nadella told investors on Wednesday that the reports that he had canceled the commitments for the new leases of the American data center were not evidence that she had decreased the expenses in response to the softening of the AI request. Nadella stressed that Microsoft had opened data centers in 10 countries during her last quarter.
“I feel very, very well in the rhythm” of the expansion, said Nadella, adding that some of the cancellations had to ensure that the company was not taken “upside down” by the overdication in an area of the world as demand increased elsewhere.
In an interview with the Financial Times this week, Microsoft President Brad Smith is committed to spending “tens of billions of dollars” per year in European data centers to protect customers’ access to their data and their calculation power. This decision is intended to reassure the region that Trump will not be able to cut access to critical technology.
Amy Hood, financial director of Microsoft, reiterated her forecasts of $ 80 billion in CAPEX for the full year ending on June 30. She noted that it would increase next year, but at a rate of less than 2025. Hood added that the demand from the data center continued to exceed the offer.
The large technological peers Google and Meta have also held or increased their spending plans in the face of investors’ skepticism and a deterioration in economic perspectives. META said on Wednesday that it could spend up to $ 72 billion on CAPEX this year, against a previous forecast of $ 65 billion because it seeks to become an AI leader and that infrastructure equipment is more expensive.
However, the evolutionary relationship of the software giant with the start-up Openai, which it supported with $ 13 billion in investment, has raised doubts about whether it will adjust its development rate.
Microsoft in January said that it would change the structure of its agreement with OPENAI to allow the company led by Sam Altman to use the Cloud Computing services. He retains the right of the first refusal.
This decision coincided with the start-up by announcing with the supplier of Cloud Oracle and the Japanese Bank that she builds at least $ 100 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States in a project nicknamed Stargate.
Microsoft still retains a significant financial interest in Openai and is in talks to convert a share of future capital benefits.
