Microsoft (MSFT) shares were nearly 3% higher in mid-after♛noon trading Wednesday, bucking a broader market downturn, after the company late Tuesday reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter earnings, fueled by a turnaround in its Azure cloud segment.

The Redmond, Washington-based company reported revenue of $56.5 billion, up 13% over the same period last year. Net income was 27% higher at $22.3 billion, while diluted earnings per share (EPS) were $2.99. Revenue in the More Personal Computing segment was also up 3% to $13.7 billion, reversing drops of 9% for the third quarter and 4% for the fourth.

Shares were higher after Microsoft's Intelligent Cloud unit, home to the Azure cloud-computing platform, came in 19% higher at $24.3 billion. That marked the first acceleration in Azure since the third quarter of 2022, due to a tough macroeconomic environment, but analysts at Bank of America see that improving.

Another strong segment was the company's Productivity and Business Processes segment, which improved 13% over the same period last year to $18.6 billion. Investors are awaiting the full rollout of Microsoft's $30 per month 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:AI-driven Copilot subscription, which should ad♛d further ⛎strength to those numbers.

“We are rapidly infusing AI across every layer of the tech stack and for every role and business process to drive productivity gains for our customers,” 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Satya Nadella said.

Management also delivered strong 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:forward guidance, with fiscal second-quarter revenue expected to be in the range of $60.4 billion to $61.4 billion, driven by 26% to 27% growth in Azure.

Microsoft shares were up 2.9% at $340.13 around 2:15 E.T., in stark contrast to a broader market decline led 🍌by technology stocks. Microsoft moved as high as $346.20 in the opening minutes of trading Wednesday, hitting its highest level since July.