Microsoft NASDAQ:MSFT is scheduled to report fiscal fourth-quarter results after Wednesday's market close, with investors expected to focus on whether continued demand for artificial intelligence services and Azure cloud computing supports the company's heavy infrastructure investments.
Microsoft guided fiscal fourth-quarter revenue to $86.7 billion to $87.8 billion, while projecting Azure revenue growth of 39% to 40% in constant currency. Wall Street expects earnings of $4.24 per share on revenue of $87.67 billion. Microsoft has exceeded both earnings and revenue estimates for eight consecutive quarters.
Microsoft's latest quarterly results showed adjusted earnings of $4.27 per share, topping expectations of $4.06, while Microsoft Cloud revenue increased 29% year over year to $54.5 billion. Azure revenue climbed 40%, and paid Copilot subscriptions surpassed 20 million. Even so, Microsoft shares fell nearly 4% after the report as investors weighed rising AI-related capital expenditures.
Microsoft has also expanded its AI strategy through plans to combine its consumer and enterprise Copilot offerings into a unified platform with additional AI agents and coding features. Analysts will watch Azure growth, Copilot monetization, cloud margins, capital spending and management's comments on AI investment returns, backed by Microsoft's $627 billion commercial backlog.
Morgan Stanley recently initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $600 price target, while Oppenheimer maintained its Buy rating with a $515 target ahead of the earnings release.