Microsoft beats expectations, revenue driven by AI

Microsoft beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue, thanks to strong business demand for artificial intelligence tools that drove steady growth at its Azure cloud computing division.

Total revenue increased 18%, reaching $76.4 billion in the April-June period. Analysts had averaged around $73 billion.

Azure revenue increased 39%, compared to Visible Alpha's estimate of 34.75%. Big Tech is under pressure to achieve higher returns on the hundreds of billions of dollars invested in AI: analysts estimate that more than $330 billion will be spent this year, largely on data centers.

Microsoft shares have gained more than 21% in 2025, driven by optimism that demand for Azure, which is crucial for running AI workloads, particularly OpenAI's technology, will remain strong.