Microsoft reports $36.6bn profit after offering buyouts to 60,000 workers

Microsoft reported a profit of more than $36.6bn for the three months to the end of September, days after announcing voluntary buyouts for about 60,000 staff — roughly one in four of its workers.

The company said quarterly revenue rose to $92.3bn, driven by growth in its cloud computing business. Its shares climbed almost 2.9% in after-hours trading in New York on Wednesday.

Microsoft is among the technology companies investing heavily in the infrastructure behind artificial intelligence. Investors are watching the latest results across the sector to judge whether that spending can be sustained and will pay off.

The proposed buyouts are intended to cut costs as Microsoft pours billions of dollars into AI. The company’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, said its technology was bringing customers greater capability and cost efficiency, and that the company was seeing growing adoption across industries.