Microsoft’s slow cloud growth signals AI payoff likely to take longer

Microsoft said it would spend more money this fiscal year to build out AI infrastructure even as growth slowed in its cloud business, another sign the payoff from hefty investments in the technology may take longer than Wall Street had hoped.

Shares fell 7 per cent on the spending forecast but pared losses to trade down 4 per cent after the bell on Tuesday after Microsoft said on a post-earnings call that Azure cloud growth would accelerate in the second half of fiscal 2025.