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IT Home reported on October 29 that, as the technology industry continues to pour vast sums into AI, Microsoft has made the unusual move of lowering its capital expenditure forecast. According to a report by Business Insider earlier today (the 29th), Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said on an earnings call that the company's capital expenditure in 2026 is expected to be $170 billion (IT Home note: approximately 1.14 trillion yuan at current exchange rates), down $5 billion (approximately 33.403 billion yuan at current exchange rates) from its previous forecast of $175 billion (approximately 1.17 trillion yuan at current exchange rates).
Microsoft had expected to receive additional computing capacity from third-party suppliers, but some GPU computing service contracts have been delayed until the second half of fiscal 2027 (corresponding to the first half of calendar 2027).
These contracts may involve other suppliers that use Nvidia GPUs to provide AI cloud services. As the delayed computing capacity is gradually delivered, Microsoft expects capital expenditure growth to accelerate in the second half of this fiscal year.
Cloud providers' massive spending to expand AI infrastructure is causing growing concern on Wall Street. Microsoft did not raise its capital expenditure forecast last quarter, in contrast with other cloud computing giants that have continued to increase their AI spending budgets.
The earnings report showed that Microsoft's revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, ended September 30, rose 19% year over year to $92.3 billion (approximately 616.614 billion yuan at current exchange rates). Azure cloud revenue grew 48% to more than $33 billion (approximately 220.458 billion yuan at current exchange rates), exceeding Wall Street expectations.
After the earnings call ended, Microsoft shares rose about 3% in after-hours trading.
Meanwhile, Microsoft's employee headcount fell 2% during the quarter. Earlier this week, Microsoft offered a voluntary departure compensation package to more than a quarter of its employees. A Microsoft spokesperson said the company expects no more than 5% of eligible employees to accept the offer. “Microsoft offers many opportunities for growth, so we expect only a very small number of employees to accept this offer.”