REDMOND, 31 JULY

Microsoft’s annual revenue for its flagship cloud computing platform has risen 34 per cent to $75 billion.

The Azure cloud business has been a centrepiece of Microsoft's efforts to shift its focus to artificial intelligence.

Its fiscal fourth-quarter profit was $34.3 billion, or $3.65 per share, beating analyst expectations for $3.37 per share.

It posted revenue of $76.4 billion in the April-June period, up 18 per cent from last year. Analysts polled by FactSet Research had been looking for revenue of $73.86 billion.

Microsoft has announced layoffs of about 15,000 workers this year, even as its profits have soared.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told employees last week the layoffs were “weighing heavily” on him, but also positioned them as an opportunity to reimagine the company's mission for an AI era.

Promises of a leaner approach have been welcomed on Wall Street, especially as Microsoft and other tech giants are trying to justify huge amounts of capital spending to pay for the data centres, chips and other components required to power AI technology.