However, Microsoft disappointed with its short-term outlook for the current quarter (fiscal year 2025), which is now viewed as at least a little too conservative. Cloud sales growth is expected to slow slightly more than expected (+31.5 percent compared to expected +32 percent), which is also said to be due to delayed product deliveries to customers. On the other hand, newly concluded major orders with customers were announced, which indicate continued high sales momentum (with a simultaneous improvement in margin development) over the course of the first half of the year (fiscal year 2025). The statements about capital expenditure (“capex”) were hardly surprising, but in the first quarter capex was around $700 million higher than estimated at $14.9 billion. It was already clear in advance of the reporting that spending would continue to increase overall in the second quarter and the year as a whole. Market participants expect that the key figure could rise to around 61 billion US dollars (fiscal year 2025), after the previous estimate of around 59 billion US dollars.
