Azure growth drives Microsoft’s quarterly profit surge

Microsoft’s Azure cloud business continued to grow rapidly in its fiscal first quarter, boosting profits and easing concerns about its massive artificial intelligence investments.

The company reported revenue of $92.28 billion, up 19% from a year earlier and above analysts’ expectations of $90.62 billion. Azure revenue surged 48%, driven by strong demand for cloud and AI services.

Microsoft’s profit rose to $36.63 billion from $27.75 billion a year earlier, while adjusted earnings reached $4.89 per share, beating forecasts of $4.7.

For the current year, it earned $24.1 billion from its OpenAI partnership. At its latest pace, that figure could reach $40 billion annually.

The company also reported $7.2 billion in outstanding payments owed by OpenAI at the end of September, up from $6 billion in June.​

CEO Satya Nadella said growing demand prompted Microsoft to add 24 data centers across five continents. Meanwhile, the company is offering buyouts to eligible employees as AI spending increases.