Microsoft reported double-digit gains in quarterly revenue and profit driven by strong demand for cloud computing services, providing evidence that its bet on artificial intelligence and rapidly escalating spending on data centres is starting to pay off.
Revenue for its fiscal first quarter rose 16 per cent from a year ago to $65.6bn, beating analysts’ expectations for $64.5bn, according to a filing on Wednesday. Net income increased 11 per cent to $24.7bn in the three months through to the end of September, exceeding the average estimate of $23.1bn.
“AI-driven transformation is changing work . . . across every role, function and business process,” said chief executive Satya Nadella. He said the company was “winning new customers as we help them apply our AI platforms”.