According to Bloomberg, Microsoft Corporation posted its strongest sales increase in six quarters, bolstered by recovering cloud-computing growth amid demand for new artificial intelligence products that are prompting corporate customers to shift back into spending mode.
The partnership has helped Microsoft lure corporate customers keen to use ChatGPT and other new technologies which answer questions and generate content in their own applications. The company, which already counts most businesses as clients of its productivity tools and operating systems, has also been testing a pricier, AI-enhanced version of its Office software.
“If we see stabilisation in Azure then the euphoria returns. Enterprise software within tech is probably one of the best spaces now and Microsoft looks pretty strong,” Dan Morgan, senior portfolio manager, Synovus Trust Co, explained.
The shares climbed as high as $351.95 in extended trading following the report, after closing at $330.53 at the close in New York. The stock fell 7.3% in the three months ending in September, a steeper drop than the 3.6% decline posted by the S&P 500 Index during that period, Bloomberg concluded.
