(Reuters) -Microsoft surpassed Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue on Wednesday as strong demand from businesses for artificial intelligence tools drove steady growth in its Azure cloud-
Microsoft Plans Unprecedented $30 Billion Capital Expenditure This Quarter
Microsoft's Record Capital Expenditure
By Deborah Mary Sophia, Stephen Nellis and Aditya Soni
(Reuters) -Microsoft forecast on Wednesday a record $30 billion in capital spending for the current fiscal first quarter, after booming sales in its Azure cloud computing business showcased the growing returns on its massive bets on artificial intelligence.
Shares of the software company rose 9% in extended trading after it said Azure sales surpassed $75 billion on an annual basis, the first time it has disclosed that figure, beating expectations for $74.62 billion.
Azure Revenue Surge
Microsoft's higher-than-expected capital expenditure forecast - its largest ever for a single quarter - put it on track to potentially outspend its rivals over the next year. It came after Google said it would spend more on data centers to meet demand for AI services, and Meta projected higher sales with only modest increases in spending. The trio of results could help resolve investor questions about whether Big Tech is benefiting from its massive data center buildout, with capital spending to reach $330 billion this year.
Microsoft and Meta's results helped fuel a $500-billion gain in AI stocks.
Impact of AI Investments
"I feel very good that the spend that we're making is correlated to basically contracted, on-the-books business that we need to deliver," Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said on a conference call with investors.
Microsoft's cloud business still trails market leader Amazon Web Services, which had a head start in cloud computing and brought in $107.56 billion in its most recent fiscal year. But investors said Microsoft's new revenue figure indicates its investments are translating to increased sales.
"Now that Microsoft's disclosing that number, it's really just helping justify the huge investments," said Dave Wagner, portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors, which holds Microsoft shares.
Rival Alphabet's earnings also showed last week that AI spending was rising, but so were the returns, as it beat revenue estimates and lifted its outlay forecast by $10 billion.
Microsoft said Azure revenue jumped 39% in the June quarter, more than the average analyst estimate of 34.75%, according to Visible Alpha. The company said it expects growth of 37% for the current quarter, beating analyst estimates of 33.5%, according to Visible Alpha data.
Investor Reactions
Microsoft has said the spending is crucial to overcoming supply constraints that have hampered its ability to meet soaring AI demand. The fiscal first-quarter capital expenditure estimate of $30 billion surpassed analysts' expectations of $23.75 billion, according to Visible Alpha data.
In the just-ended fiscal fourth quarter, capital spending rose 27% to $24.2 billion, compared with estimates of $23.08 billion, per Visible Alpha.
Microsoft said its Copilot AI tools had surpassed 100 million monthly active users, the first time it has provided such a figure. Google has said rival Gemini has 450 million active users.
Overall revenue rose 18% to $76.4 billion in the April-June period, Microsoft's fiscal fourth quarter. Analysts on average expected $73.81 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
LONGER-LIVED ASSETS
Microsoft said its capital spending trended slightly toward longer-lived assets such as data centers, after it previously told investors the mix would shift toward shorter-lived assets such as chips over its 2026 fiscal year. Jonathan Neilson, Microsoft's vice president of investor relations, said that guidance does not mean that Microsoft will not continue to invest in longer-lived assets when capacity is needed to meet demand.
"We are going to absolutely invest against that," Neilson said in an interview.
The company has emerged as an early leader in making money from AI thanks to its exclusive access to OpenAI's technology. The tie-up has helped attract scores of businesses to its cloud service and allowed Microsoft to swiftly roll out AI products such as its M365 Copilot AI assistant for enterprises.
"The bar was set really high. And my impression is they delivered ... They were able to execute in a very demanding environment," said Dan Morgan, portfolio manager at Synovus Trust, which owns Microsoft shares.
Microsoft is just $200 billion short of becoming only the second company to hit a $4-trillion valuation, with its shares up about 20% this year.
But investor doubts have risen about the OpenAI tie-up as the companies renegotiate the deal and the startup shifts some workloads to rivals, including Google and Oracle.
Media reports have said the two are at a deadlock over how much access Microsoft will retain to OpenAI's tech and its stake if OpenAI converts into a public-benefit corporation.
Microsoft has tried to reduce its reliance on OpenAI by developing in-house AI technology and broadening its model lineup with partners such as xAI, Meta, and France's Mistral, hosting their models on Azure for clients.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Rod Nickel)
