Microsoft said to expect 34% to 35% growth in Azure revenue on a constant-current basis for the June quarter, but investors likely are looking for a bit more from the cloud-computing unit. Bernstein's Mark Moerdler said that the "buy-side bogey" on that metric is something like 35% to 36%.

Microsoft (MSFT) reported quarterly earnings that topped analysts' expectations on strong growth in its Intelligent Cloud segment, sending shares higher in extended trading Wednesday. Shares jumped nearly 9% in after-hours trading to $558,

Microsoft forecast on Wednesday a record $30 billion in capital spending for the current fiscal first quarter, after booming sales in its Azure cloud computing business showcased the growing returns on its massive bets on artificial intelligence.