Microsoft Shares Rise 5.95% as Anthropic Commits at Least $44.9B to Cloud

Microsoft shares climbed 5.95% to $552 in Wednesday trading as the company reported 19% quarterly revenue growth and Anthropic committed at least $44.9 billion to its cloud services.

Microsoft released its fiscal first-quarter results Oct. 28 for the quarter ended Sept. 30. Revenue reached $92.28 billion, up 19% from a year earlier, while net income increased 32% year over year to $36.63 billion.

Azure revenue increased 48%, and Microsoft Cloud revenue totaled $63.9 billion. Anthropic's minimum commitment covers cloud services from November 2026 through June 2033, regardless of actual usage.

Microsoft and Anthropic signed the deal in 2025 and amended it in 2026. Microsoft also forecast Azure growth of 49% to 50% in constant currency for the next quarter.

Microsoft reported $677 billion in remaining commercial contracts and $45.2 billion in capital spending for the quarter, much of it directed to chips and other equipment. The company said customer demand for Azure computing still exceeds available capacity.