SAN FRANCISCO, July 31, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Microsoft shares slipped Tuesday after the tech giant reported quarterly profit climbed but its crucial cloud cmputing unit missed expectations. Cloud unit revenue of $36.8 billion, however, disappointed investors and shares slid more than three percent to $408 in after-market trades. Money brought in from cloud computing has driven blockbuster earnings quarter after quarter, and a hint that stellar growth may be slowing was enough to give investors pause. The AI frenzy has helped Microsoft's cloud computing business grow in the double digits, which analysts said could be hard to sustain. Revenue from Microsoft's AI-infused "Intelligent Cloud" unit was $28.5 billion, a 19-percent increase from the same quarter a year earlier, according to the earnings figures.
