Microsoft said Wednesday that its profit for the October-December quarter grew 10% as it works to capitalize on the huge amounts of money it has spent to advance its artificial intelligence technology.
But while its overall profits and revenue beat Wall Street expectations, it slightly missed projections for its closely-watched cloud computing business, a centerpiece of its AI efforts.
The company reported net income for the quarter of $24.1 billion, or $3.23 per share, beating Wall Street expectations of $3.11 per share. The Redmond, Washington-based software maker posted revenue of $69.6 billion in the quarter, up 12% from the previous year, also beating expectations.
Analysts polled by FactSet Research expected Microsoft to generate revenue of $68.87 billion in the last three months of the year.
Sales from Microsoft’s cloud-focused business segment that includes its flagship Azure computing platform grew 19% from the same time last year to $25.5 billion, which was less than the $25.83 billion forecast by FactSet analysts.
Microsoft’s productivity business segment, which includes its Office suite of email and other workplace products, grew 14% to $29.4 billion.
Its personal computing business, led by its Windows division, remained steady at $14.7 billion, with a drop in consumer device sales offset by growth in advertising revenue tied to the Bing search engine.
Microsoft shares dropped 5% in after-hours trading Wednesday but were still higher than Monday, when the tech giant was hit by a broader tech stock sale caused by a frenzy over the new ChatGPT competitor developed by Chinese tech startup DeepSeek.
Microsoft is a close partner of ChatGPT maker OpenAI and also sells its own AI chatbot services, branded as Copilot. Part of what drove the Wall Street panic this week was concern over the startup's claims that it was catching up to U.S. tech titans on a fraction of their budget.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella downplayed those concerns on an investor call Wednesday, saying “DeepSeek had some real innovations” and it is good to have efficiency gains and lower prices in AI development because it “means people can consume more and there’ll be more apps written.”
Microsoft also added DeepSeek's latest AI model to those available on its Azure computing platform Wednesday.
Building and operating AI systems is costly, and Microsoft has said it plans to spend $80 billion this year as it expands its global network of energy-hungry computing centers and supplies them with specialized chips to train and run AI models.
“We have more than doubled our overall data center capacity in the last three years and we have added more capacity last year than any other year in our history,” Nadella said.
FILE - Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks during the Microsoft Ignite conference, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Wisconsin judge pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges accusing her of helping a man in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration authorities who were looking to arrest him in her courthouse.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan entered the plea during a brief arraignment in federal court. Magistrate Judge Stephen Dries set a July trial date. Dugan’s lead attorney, Steven Biskupic, told the judge that he anticipates the trial will last a week.
Dugan, her lawyers and prosecutors left after the hearing without speaking to reporters.
She is charged with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. Prosecutors say she escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back door on April 18 after learning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse seeking to arrest him for being in the country illegally. She could face up to six years in prison if convicted on both counts.
Her attorneys say she’s innocent. They filed a motion Wednesday to dismiss the case, saying she was acting in her official capacity as a judge and therefore is immune to prosecution. They also maintain the federal government violated Wisconsin’s state sovereignty by disrupting a state courtroom and prosecuting a state judge.
Dugan's arrest has escalated a clash between Trump administration and Democrats over the president’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse ahead of Thursday's hearing, with some holding signs that read, “Only Fascists Arrest Judges -- Drop the Charges,” “Department of Justice Over-Reach” and “Keep Your Hands Off Our Judges!!” The crowd chanted “Due process rights,” “Hands off our freedom,” and “Si se puede” — Spanish for “Yes, we can” — which is a rallying cry for immigrant rights advocates.
One man stood alone across the street holding a Trump flag.
According to court documents, Flores-Ruiz illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported in 2013. Online court records show he was charged with three counts of misdemeanor domestic abuse in Milwaukee County in March, and he was in Dugan’s courtroom on April 18 for a hearing in that case.
According to an FBI affidavit, Dugan was alerted to the agents’ presence by her clerk, who was informed by an attorney that the agents appeared to be in the hallway. Dugan was visibly angry and called the situation “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers, the affidavit contends. She and another judge later approached members of the arrest team in the courthouse with what witnesses described as a “confrontational, angry demeanor.”
After a back-and-forth with the agents over the warrant for Flores-Ruiz, Dugan demanded they speak with the chief judge and led them from the courtroom, according to the affidavit.
After she returned to the courtroom, witnesses heard her say something to the effect of “wait, come with me” before ushering Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out through a door typically used only by deputies, jurors, court staff and in-custody defendants, the affidavit alleges. Flores-Ruiz was free on a signature bond in the abuse case, according to online state court records. Federal agents ultimately detained him outside the courthouse after a foot chase.
The state Supreme Court suspended Dugan last week, saying the move was necessary to preserve public confidence in the judiciary. She was freed after her arrest.
John Vaudreuil, a former federal prosecutor in Wisconsin who isn’t involved in Dugan’s or Flores-Ruiz’s cases, said the Trump administration seems to want to make an example out of Dugan. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi or Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, rather than the U.S. attorney in Milwaukee, are likely making the decisions on how to proceed, making it less likely prosecutors will reduce the charges against Dugan in a deal, he said.
Her attorneys will likely try to push the case to a jury trial, Vaudreuil said, because they know that “people feel very strongly about the way the president and administration is conducting immigration policy.”
Dugan is represented by some of Wisconsin's most accomplished lawyers. Biskupic was a federal prosecutor for 20 years and served seven years as U.S. attorney in Milwaukee. Paul Clement, meanwhile, is a former U.S. solicitor general who has argued more than 100 cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Both were appointed to jobs by former Republican President George W. Bush.
Associated Press writer Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.
Supporters of Judge Hannah Dugan protest outside the United States Federal Building and Courthouse in Milwaukee, Wis. on Thursday, April 15, 2025 ahead of Dugan's arraignment on charges that she helped a man in the country illegally evade arrest by immigration authorities. (AP Photo/Todd Richmond)
Supporters of Judge Hannah Dugan protest outside the United States Federal Building and Courthouse in Milwaukee, Wis. on Thursday, April 15, 2025 ahead of Dugan's arraignment on charges that she helped a man in the country illegally evade arrest by immigration authorities. (AP Photo/Todd Richmond)
Supporters of Judge Hannah Dugan protest outside the United States Federal Building and Courthouse in Milwaukee, Wis. on Thursday, April 15, 2025 ahead of Dugan's arraignment on charges that she helped a man in the country illegally evade arrest by immigration authorities. (AP Photo/Todd Richmond)
FILE - Judge Hannah Dugan poses for a photo in Milwaukee in 2016. (Lee Matz/Milwaukee Independent via AP, File)
