Microsoft's $41 billion AI bet just cleared a major test: Chart of the Day

Microsoft's Azure cloud revenue jumped 43% last quarter, its fastest growth in four years, as capital expenditures surged 70% to $41 billion. The company's shares rose about 3% in late trading after beating Wall Street expectations, with overall revenue climbing 18% to $90 billion and adjusted earnings of $4.74 per share topping forecasts. CFO Amy Hood said efficiency gains are quickly monetized, and Microsoft expects Azure growth to accelerate to roughly 45% next quarter even as capital spending exceeds $50 billion.

Microsoft MSFT https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/MSFT/ poured another record sum into AI infrastructure. Its Azure cloud business is finally growing faster, too. Azure revenue jumped 43% last quarter https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/article/microsoft-tops-q4-expectations-on-strong-azure-growth-120144134.html , its fastest growth in four years and well ahead of the roughly 40% Wall Street expected. Microsoft shares rose about 3% in late trading Wednesday after posting a 0.7% loss at the close. The acceleration came as quarterly capital expenditures https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalexpenditure.asp — spending on long-term assets such as data centers and equipment — surged 70% to $41 billion. Microsoft has been spending at a historic pace to add computing capacity, even as investors question how quickly Big Tech can earn a return on its enormous AI buildout https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/big-techs-27-trillion-ai-bill-comes-due-chart-of-the-day-100000100.html . This quarter provided the strongest evidence yet that the expansion is producing faster growth. The chart below shows Microsoft's quarterly capital spending alongside Azure growth. The company spent slightly less than analysts expected, while Azure cleared its growth hurdle by more than 3 percentage points. The rest of the quarter backed that up. Overall revenue rose 18% to $90 billion, topping expectations of $87.7 billion, while adjusted earnings of $4.74 per share beat forecasts of $4.25. Operating income climbed to $40.6 billion. The response stands in contrast with Alphabet GOOGL https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GOOGL/ , which delivered its own blockbuster cloud quarter https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/google-cloud-is-becoming-alphabets-new-profit-engine-chart-of-the-day-090000053.html last week. Google Cloud revenue surged 82% as profitability widened, but Alphabet shares plunged 7% the following day — their worst session in more than two months — after the company raised its spending outlook. Strong growth was not enough to overcome fears about the bill. Microsoft faced the same test and received a very different verdict. Its shares jumped about 9% in after-hours trading. The company expects Azure growth to accelerate again next quarter, to roughly 45%, even as capital spending climbs above $50 billion. Demand still exceeds available supply, but Microsoft says new capacity is producing revenue almost immediately. "When we can make efficiency gains, they are quickly monetized in quarter," CFO Amy Hood said. Jared Blikre is the global markets and data editor for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X at @SPYJared or email him at jaredblikre@yahooinc.com. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance