Microsoft Continues to Spend Big on A.I. While Profit Jumps 60%

Microsoft said on Wednesday that it continued to spend heavily on data centers for artificial intelligence with $37.5 billion in capital expenditures in its most recent quarter, up about 65 percent from a year earlier.

The company reported that revenue in the quarter was $81.3 billion, up 17 percent from the same period last year. Microsoft’s profits were $38.5 billion, up 60 percent from last year. Both numbers beat Wall Street’s expectations.

Microsoft’s Azure business, a closely watched segment that is indicative of the traction of its A.I. business, was up 39 percent. That also slightly beat Wall Street expectations.

“We are only at the beginning phases of A.I. diffusion and already Microsoft has built an A.I. business that is larger than some of our biggest franchises,” Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, said in a statement.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/technology/microsoft-earnings-ai-expenditures.html