The company's revenue for the July-September period reached $64.6 billion, driven significantly by its Azure cloud services.

Artificial intelligence played a crucial role in this growth, contributing 12 percentage points to a remarkable 33% increase in Azure revenue.

Microsoft reported a quarterly profit of $24.7 billion, which is an 11% increase compared to the previous year, surpassing Wall Street's expectations.

Despite these positive results, analysts expressed caution regarding Microsoft's growth in AI services, particularly as competition intensifies.

Microsoft's early investments in OpenAI have positioned it as a leader in the AI sector, enhancing its product offerings and attracting more customers.

CEO Satya Nadella emphasized the transformative impact of AI on work processes, highlighting the integration of AI platforms into workplaces.

However, Microsoft has underperformed compared to other tech giants this year, with a modest gain of just over 15%.

Investors are particularly focused on Microsoft's growth indicators due to a previous slowdown in Azure sales growth noted in the last quarter.

Analysts referred to this earnings report as a 'gut check quarter,' reflecting a shift in investor sentiment towards neutrality regarding Microsoft's growth prospects.

Looking ahead, Deutsche Bank analysts expect Azure growth to remain strong but in the low-to-mid 30% range for the upcoming fiscal quarter.

Adding to the company's challenges, a federal review earlier this year criticized Microsoft for security failures that allowed hackers linked to the Chinese government to breach email accounts of U.S. officials.

This quarterly earnings report is the first following a restructuring of Microsoft's reporting processes, which complicates performance estimates.