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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) surged 7% in after-hours trading after reporting stronger-than-expected Q3 results, driven by robust growth in its Azure cloud business and rising demand for AI services. Azure revenue grew 33% in the quarter ending March 31, outpacing the 29.7% estimate, with AI contributing 16 percentage points to that growth, up from 13 points the previous quarter.
The tech giant projected Azure revenue to grow 34%–35% year-over-year in the current quarter, reaching between $28.75 billion and $29.05 billion, well above analyst expectations. Commercial bookings rose 18%, partly due to a new Azure deal with OpenAI. While Microsoft declined to reveal the deal's size, CFO Amy Hood clarified that the non-AI business primarily drove Azure’s outperformance, with earlier-than-expected AI infrastructure delivery boosting short-term results.
CEO Satya Nadella emphasized Microsoft’s adaptive data center strategy in response to analyst scrutiny, noting ongoing adjustments in infrastructure planning. The upbeat forecast came despite prior concerns over data-center lease cancellations and U.S. tariff risks impacting tech spending. Meta's strong advertising sales also helped ease market fears of broader pullbacks.
Microsoft reported Q3 earnings of $3.46 per share, beating the $3.22 forecast. Revenue climbed 13% to $70.1 billion, with $26.8 billion coming from the Intelligent Cloud segment. Capital expenditures soared 53% to $21.4 billion, with a growing focus on shorter-lived assets like GPUs and CPUs from suppliers such as Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC). This shift reflects Microsoft’s strategic pivot toward faster AI deployment and monetization.
As Microsoft ramps up its AI infrastructure investment, analysts expect ongoing tech-driven economic contributions, with J.P. Morgan projecting data-center spending to add up to 0.2 percentage points to U.S. GDP growth in 2025–2026.
