Microsoft shares surged more than 3% in after hours trading Wednesday after the company reported stronger than expected quarterly revenue and accelerating growth across its Azure cloud business.
The stock rose as much as 4% following the results as investors welcomed signs that Microsoft’s massive investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure was translating into faster cloud growth.
Microsoft generated $90 billion in revenue during its fiscal fourth quarter, an increase of 18% from $76.4 billion a year earlier. The result exceeded Wall Street expectations of roughly $87.7 billion.
Operating income increased 18% to $40.6 billion, while net income rose 31% to $35.8 billion.
Diluted earnings reached $4.81 per share on a reported basis. Excluding the effect of Microsoft’s OpenAI investments, earnings were $4.74 per share, above analysts’ expectations of $4.24.
