Investing.com -- Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results, led by growth in its cloud computing business.
However, Microsoft shares fell about 4% in early Wednesday trading after the company's CFO warned on the earnings call that CapEx is expected to increase over the next several quarters as Microsoft races to meet strong AI demand.
“For FY '24, the impact will be weighted toward H2. To support our Microsoft Cloud growth and demand for our AI platform, we will accelerate investment in our cloud infrastructure,” the CFO noted on the call.
Microsoft announced earnings per share of $2.69 on revenue of $56.2 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated EPS of $2.55 on revenue of $55.44B.
“Organizations are asking not only how – but how fast – they can apply this next generation of AI to address the biggest opportunities and challenges they face – safely and responsibly,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft.
Revenue in productivity and business processes was up 12% to $18.3B and its intelligent cloud business, which includes cloud business Azure, grew 15% to $24B.
Azure was up 26% in FQ4, in line with analyst estimates. On the call, Microsoft guided to 25-26% Azure growth for this quarter. For FQ3, Azure grew 31%.
"We remain focused on leading the new AI platform shift, helping customers use the Microsoft Cloud to get the most value out of their digital spend, and driving operating leverage," Nadella added.
Bank of America analysts say the expensive AI investment cycle is "justified given opportunity."
"We view Q4 results and the outlook as validation that Microsoft is ahead of the curve in AI. AI-enabled offering across Azure and Office are likely to driving meaningful uplift to revenue and operating income at scale," analysts said in a note.
Goldman Sachs analysts believe that the near-term debate will center on the timing of when these stepped-up investments will pay off.
"Microsoft has a strong track record of proving that its capex acceleration is owed to increased business confidence. After investment cycles there is a period of gross and operating leverage alongside accelerating revenue growth (as was seen FY16 onwards). Furthermore, Microsoft is poised to deliver double-digit revenue and earnings growth despite a step-up in CapEx and ~200bps of GM decline in FY24," analysts wrote.
Additional reporting by Senad Karaahmetovic