Microsoft (MSFT, Financials) reported better-than-expected financial results for its first quarter of fiscal 2025, driven by a 33% surge in Azure cloud revenue, surpassing market forecasts.

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After the announcement, the tech behemoth's shares saw a slight 1% increase in post-market trade as cloud and artificial intelligence sectors kept propelling the company's growth.

With artificial intelligence ingrained throughout Microsoft's product lines, from Office to Azure's infrastructure services, Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella cited artificial intelligence as a fundamental driver of Azure and more general cloud performance. "AI-driven transformation is changing work, work artifacts, and workflow across every role, function, and business process," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. "We are expanding our opportunity and winning new customers as we help them apply our AI platforms and tools to drive new growth and operating leverage.

Artificial intelligence directly accounted for around 8% of Azure's total expansion, which has gradually climbed throughout the last three quarters. As Microsoft develops AI-driven capabilities in Azure and matches its tools with the larger need for generative and corporate artificial intelligence, analysts predict this trend will continue.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.