NEW YORK: Microsoft Corp. said sales of its flagship cloud product doubled in its first quarter, propelling earnings above analysts’ estimates and sending its shares to an all-time high, breaking past a level hit in 1999 at the peak of the tech stock bubble.
The company’s shares have doubled since August 2013 with Chief Executive Satya Nadella restoring investor confidence by focusing on mobile and cloud computing rather than PCs.
Long known for its Windows software, Microsoft has shifted focus to the cloud where it is dueling with larger rival Amazon.com Inc. to control the still fledgling market. Its jump in revenue underscores how businesses around the world are turning to new applications in the cloud and leaving once critical software programs and other hardware in the dust.
Shares of Microsoft rose as much as 6.2 percent to $60.79 in after-hours trading. They later pared gains to $60.43, still adding nearly $25 billion to its market value.
The Redmond, Washington-based company said sales from its flagship cloud product Azure, which businesses can use to host their websites, apps or data, rose 116 percent. Revenue for its broader “Intelligent Cloud” business rose 8.3 percent to $6.38 billion, beating analysts’ average estimate of $6.27 billion, according to research firm FactSet StreetAccount.
“We are not just building or moving (clients’) IT,” Nadella said on an analyst call. Customers “are building new digital services for hyper scale. And that’s what is probably unique in terms of what has changed year over year for us.
“It’s not just the Silicon Valley startups anymore; it is the core enterprise that is also becoming a digital company. And we are well-positioned to serve them,” he said.
The company forecast that sales for its Intelligent Cloud business will be between $6.55 billion and $6.75 billion in the current quarter, compared with $6.34 billion in the same period a year earlier.
“There’s a huge runway for them to show growth,” said Trip Chowdhry, managing director of Global Equities Research.
Head in the clouds
Early investment in the cloud, coupled with machine learning and applications that can scale at different levels, have set Microsoft and Amazon Web Services apart from smaller rivals — and precipitated the decline of older software companies, Chowdhry said.
Microsoft had an effective monopoly on computing software in the 1990s and was for some time the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.
But its power waned in the 2000s after a bruising battle with the US Department of Justice over how it used its monopoly power to squeeze competitors.
Co-founder Bill Gates stepped down as CEO early in 2000 and Microsoft spent the next decade and a half in a strategic dilemma as it clung to its PC-centric view of the computing world while it was outflanked by Google in the Internet and Apple Inc. in smartphones.
Earlier this year, Nadella made headlines when he orchestrated Microsoft’s biggest-ever deal, agreeing in June to buy the social network for professionals LinkedIn Corp. for $26.2 billion.
But the focus on mobile applications and the cloud’s blockbuster growth masked dips in sales for other units of the company in the quarter.
Worldwide PC shipments fell 3.9 percent in the quarter ended Sept. 30, according to research firm IDC, although that was much less than the 7.1 percent it had previously estimated.
Revenue in the unit that includes Windows software and the company’s struggling mobile business fell 1.8 percent to $9.29 billion. Microsoft forecast the division will have sales of up to $11.6 billion in the current quarter — well below the $12.7 billion it posted for the unit a year earlier.
The decline in Lumia smartphone sales was a “blemish,” said Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy, albeit an expected one.
“At some point that Windows number needs to start to rise, but given market declines, it’s hard to expect that,” he said.
Including deferred revenue from Windows 10, Microsoft earned 76 cents per share in the just-ended first fiscal quarter of 2017, beating analysts’ average estimate of 68 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
On an adjusted basis, Microsoft reported revenue of $22.33 billion, above the average estimate of $21.71 billion.
Microsoft shares hit high as cloud business flies above estimates
Microsoft shares hit high as cloud business flies above estimates
AI’s shift toward proactive healthcare
- Experts reveal how AI is reducing burnout and streamlining workflows
JEDDAH: Artificial intelligence is increasingly moving from the margins of healthcare innovation into its operational core. Rather than replacing clinicians, AI is being deployed to address persistent challenges across health systems, from administrative overload and staff burnout to fragmented data and inefficient patient flow.
Speaking to Arab News, Abbes Seqqat, chief executive officer of Rain Stella Technologies, and Eric Turkington, chief product officer, discussed how AI is already transforming healthcare delivery — and why its impact is most meaningful when embedded directly into clinical workflows rather than treated as a standalone tool.
Seqqat describes AI’s role as accelerating a structural shift in healthcare delivery. “AI is accelerating the shift in healthcare from reactive to proactive care, because AI fundamentally helps detect, analyze and predict,” he said, noting that many health systems lack the resources to perform these tasks at scale.
While AI use cases in healthcare are broad, Seqqat emphasized that the most effective applications today focus on operational and clinical fundamentals, including reducing administrative burden, identifying patient risks earlier, and capturing clinical data more reliably and in real time.
RST’s portfolio reflects this approach, spanning surgical data capture and workflow automation, cloud-based electronic medical records, and health information exchange. Across these systems, the common goal is improving data quality and usability so clinicians can spend less time managing information and more time delivering care.
According to Turkington, RST’s systems rely on a mix of established and emerging AI technologies.
“Across the portfolio, we are using a wide range of AI and predictive technologies, from voice technology to reliably capture clinician inputs, to large language models that analyze and act on collected data,” he said.
A key focus has been adapting AI to regional and clinical realities. Voice models, for example, have been trained on UAE and GCC accents and grounded in medical terminology to improve accuracy in real-world settings. RST also uses retrieval-augmented generation and multi-agent AI architectures, allowing different AI components to perform specialized tasks such as classifying surgical notes, identifying unusual events, or assisting with billing and coding, Turkington explained.
DID YOU KNOW?
• AI can detect, analyze, and predict patient risks faster than traditional methods.
• Systems like Equinox use voice input and predictive analytics to actively support clinical decisions.
• AI assistants provide real-time updates, automate documentation, and improve coordination in operating theaters.
One of the central concerns around AI adoption is whether it adds complexity to already demanding clinical roles. Seqqat argues the opposite should be the goal.
“For nurses and frontline staff, AI’s greatest contribution is removing the invisible administrative friction that leads to burnout,” Seqqat said.
In operating theaters, AI systems can replace manual coordination methods such as phone calls and whiteboards by providing real-time situational awareness. By automating updates, anticipating delays, and serving as an on-demand clinical notepad, AI reduces cognitive load and allows staff to remain focused on patient care, he explained.
RST’s voice-enabled assistant, Orva, is designed specifically for perioperative environments.
Turkington said it enables hands-free documentation and coordination, helping surgical teams manage schedules and resources more effectively.
By capturing live updates through voice input, Orva can surface delays, flag bottlenecks, and prompt coordination between departments. It also assists with documentation and coding, reducing errors and supporting more accurate reimbursement— an area where incomplete records often create downstream challenges.
Electronic medical records remain central to healthcare delivery, but Turkington noted that AI can move them beyond passive data repositories.
“We designed Equinox as an EMR that enables you to spend less time with the software and more time with patients,” Turkington said.
Through voice input, automated documentation from visual annotations, and AI-generated pre-visit summaries, the system can actively support clinicians rather than slow them down. Predictive analytics, such as identifying no-show risks or highlighting care gaps, further shift EMRs toward decision-support tools rather than administrative obligations.
Both executives stressed that AI’s effectiveness depends heavily on data access and quality. Seqqat pointed to interoperability as a prerequisite rather than an afterthought.
“AI is only as powerful as the data it can access,” he said, adding that fragmented records limit both clinical insight and system-wide learning.
Health information exchanges, such as RST’s Constellation platform, enable patient data to be viewed longitudinally across providers. AI can then assist with patient identity matching and population-level analysis, allowing trends and risks to be identified across large datasets.
Turkington shared an example from an operating theatre where AI helped prevent cascading delays. When a surgical case ran late, a nurse verbally updated Orva that the patient was ready to exit. The system alerted the recovery unit, analyzed schedule conflicts, and prompted management to reassign staff before delays affected subsequent procedures.
Opinion
This section contains relevant reference points, placed in (Opinion field)
By tagging the cause of the delay and feeding that data into predictive models, the system helped prevent similar issues in the future — without additional manual coordination.
According to Seqqat, the primary returns from AI adoption come from combining efficiency with financial accuracy. Streamlined workflows allow providers to treat more patients without compromising care, while improved documentation reduces revenue leakage.
Looking ahead, Seqqat sees AI becoming central to Saudi Arabia’s healthcare transformation. He described its role as advancing smart hospitals, predictive patient flow, and precision medicine aligned with Vision 2030 goals.
“The role of AI in Saudi Arabia’s healthcare sector is evolving from a supporting technology to a foundational pillar of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 transformation. Over the next few years, we expect to see AI move into the realm of smart hospitals, where predictive analytics optimize patient flow and AI-driven precision medicine leverages the Saudi Genome Program to provide hyper-personalized care. By unifying national health data and automating complex administrative workflows, AI will enable a more proactive, value-based healthcare model that improves patient outcomes and operational efficiency across the country.”
