Microsoft Corp’s cloud unit grew at the fastest clip in four years and the pace is accelerating, suggesting the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) and computing services are making inroads with customers.Azure cloud revenue rose 43 percent during the fiscal fourth quarter, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. That was the fastest quarterly growth since early 2022 and topped analysts’ average estimate for a 40 percent increase. Azure revenue surpassed US$100 billion for the first time during the fiscal year ended in June.Microsoft chief financial officer Amy Hood said growth in the cloud unit is expected to accelerate further in the current quarter, to about 45 percent. “Demand continues to exceed available supply,” she said during a conference call with analysts.
A man looks at his phone in front of the logo of Microsoft Corp during the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, Spain on March 3 last year.
She also indicated that Microsoft would hold the line on new capital spending this year, which helped send the shares up about 15 percent to US$449.83 as the markets opened in New York yesterday, for the biggest intraday gain in more than six years.Since ushering in the AI boom with partner OpenAI, Microsoft has shifted its focus to AI models and software capable of acting autonomously. These products require enormous computing power, and the company has joined an industrywide spending frenzy to build new data centers and buy the chips required to handle AI services.
