Microsoft shares surged by as much as 10% in pre-market trading on Thursday after the technology giant forecast stronger-than-expected revenue and accelerating growth at its Azure cloud business, offering fresh evidence that its vast investment in artificial intelligence is paying off.
The company expects revenue of between $89.85bn (€78.5bn) and $90.95bn (€79.5bn) in the July-September quarter, representing growth of 16% to 17%. It also forecast that Azure revenue would grow by approximately 45% in constant currency, up from 43% in the quarter just ended.
