Microsoft Shares Surge Over 6% on Strong Cloud, AI-Driven Q4 Earnings

Microsoft reported strong fiscal fourth-quarter and annual results, driven primarily by robust growth in its cloud and AI services. The company's quarterly revenue rose 18% year-over-year to $76.4 billion, surpassing analyst expectations, with net income increasing 24% to $27.2 billion. Microsoft's cloud segment, particularly Azure, achieved a milestone of over $75 billion in annual revenue, growing 34% year-over-year, and posted a 39% revenue increase in the quarter alone, outpacing forecasts. CEO Satya Nadella attributed this success to widespread enterprise adoption of AI-powered tools, while Microsoft also invested heavily in AI infrastructure, spending $24.2 billion in capital expenditures for the quarter. Productivity and Business Processes and Personal Computing units also posted gains, with Microsoft 365 commercial and consumer subscribers growing substantially. These results boosted Microsoft’s market capitalization above $4 trillion, making it the second company after NVIDIA to reach this valuation, and reinforced an 'Outperform' consensus among analysts.