Investors have found a lot to like in Microsoft’s earnings report, judging by the stock’s nearly 8% move higher in Wednesday’s extended session.
There’s the roughly $3 billion beat on revenue, helped by better-than-expected performances across the company’s three business segments. Profit beat expectations as well.
But the biggest highlight is likely Microsoft’s 39% growth in Azure revenue, which accelerated from the 35% constant-currency rate seen in the March quarter. The cloud is an area where companies are already showing their abilities to financially benefit from artificial intelligence, and Microsoft’s earnings call will show just how much AI was a contributor to the upbeat cloud trends.