The earnings from Microsoft and Meta were widely viewed as one of the biggest tests of that thesis this quarter. Microsoft impressed Wall Street with stronger-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results, fueled by continued momentum in its cloud computing and AI businesses. Both figures topped analyst expectations, which had called for revenue of roughly $87.6 billion and earnings of $4.24 per share. The results helped send Microsoft's shares higher in after-hours trading after a challenging year in which the stock had come under pressure over concerns about escalating AI infrastructure costs. Combined, Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet and other major technology firms are expected to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on AI infrastructure over the coming year.