Microsoft (MSFT) on Thursday said its profit rose 20% for the January-March quarter as it tries to position itself as a leader in applying artificial intelligence technology to make workplaces more productive.
The company reported quarterly net income of $21.93 billion, or $2.94 per share, beating Wall Street expectations for earnings of $2.82 a share.
The Redmond, Washington-based software maker posted revenue of $61.86 billion in the period, its third fiscal quarter, up 17% from the same period a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet expected Microsoft to post revenue of $60.86 billion for the quarter.
Microsoft doesn't spell out how much money it makes from AI products, including its flagship Copilot chatbot that can compose documents or generate images. But it has infused the technology into its main lines of business, such as cloud computing contracts and subscriptions for its email and other online services. Businesses pay Microsoft $30 per employee each month to add Copilot to a workplace subscription for Microsoft 365, formerly known as Office.