Wire reporting: (Reuters, via CNA)

Microsoft's Azure cloud business generated $33.17 billion in the fiscal first quarter ended Sept. 30, CNBC reported, the first time the company disclosed Azure sales in dollars in an earnings statement¹. Channel NewsAsia, carrying Reuters, said that figure was up 48% from a year earlier and above Visible Alpha's $32.84 billion estimate².

CNBC said Microsoft shares rose 5% in extended trading after the print¹. It said adjusted earnings were $4.89 a share versus LSEG's $4.73 estimate, and revenue was $92.28 billion versus $90.69 billion, with overall sales up 19%¹. CNA's Reuters copy did not give company-wide revenue or earnings per share².

StreetAccount had expected $32.32 billion of Azure revenue, implying growth of more than 44%, CNBC said, and it put the June-quarter Azure growth rate at 42%¹. CNA said Azure revenue was $29.4 billion in the prior quarter².

CNBC said free cash flow was $18.63 billion, down 27% from a year earlier¹. CNA reported free cash flow of $18.6 billion against Visible Alpha's $8.54 billion expectation². Capital expenditures and finance leases were $45.2 billion, up about 30%, below StreetAccount's $50.67 billion projection, according to CNBC¹. CNA put capex at $45.2 billion, up from $34.9 billion a year earlier and below Microsoft's own $50 billion first-quarter projection².

CNBC said the Agents and Infra segment contributed $76.80 billion of revenue, up almost 25% and above StreetAccount's $75.63 billion consensus, and that Microsoft 365 cloud services were $27.78 billion versus $27.37 billion¹. Devices and Consumer was $15.48 billion, down 3% but above a $15.05 billion consensus, it said¹.

CNBC reported that Microsoft said during the quarter it would cut 4,800 jobs and, on Monday, that it was offering buyouts to as many as 60,000 employees¹. CNA did not mention the workforce actions².

CNA placed the Azure print against investor concern about Big Tech's AI spending and said Microsoft had forecast $190 billion of capital expenditure in 2026². CNBC noted that Alphabet showed negative free cash flow in the latest period it cited and that Meta had recently gone free-cash-flow negative, while Microsoft still reported positive free cash flow¹.

A direct Reuters page for the same headline could not be retrieved at filing time³. CNA credited Reuters as the source of its account². CNBC said net income was $36.63 billion, or $4.92 a share, compared with $27.75 billion, or $3.72 a share, a year earlier, and that adjusted earnings excluded a roughly $200 million impact from investing in OpenAI¹.