Microsoft’s quarterly sales up 16% to $65.6 billion as investors ask if AI spending worth it
AI-related products are now on track to contribute about US$10 billion to the company’s annual revenue
Microsoft on Wednesday reported its quarterly sales grew 16 per cent to US$65.6 billion as the company sought to assure investors its huge spending on artificial intelligence is paying off.
The company has spent billions of dollars to expand its global network of data centres and other physical infrastructure required to develop AI technology that can compose documents, make images and serve as a lifelike personal assistant at work or home.
As a result, AI-related products are now on track to contribute about US$10 billion to the company’s annual revenue, the “fastest business in our history to reach this milestone”, CEO Satya Nadella said on a call with analysts Wednesday.
The software maker also reported an 11 per cent increase in quarterly profit to US$24.7 billion, or US$3.30 per share, which beat Wall Street expectations for the July-September period.
Analysts polled by FactSet Research were expecting Microsoft to earn US$3.10 per share on revenue of US$64.6 billion.
Microsoft has not yet formally reported revenue specifically from AI products but says it has infused the technology and its AI assistant, called Copilot, into all of its business segments, particularly its Azure cloud computing contracts.
