Microsoft Shares Plummet Amid Cloud Slowdown, AI Investment Concerns

• Microsoft shares dropped 11% to $429.24, the largest intraday slide since March 2020, due to record spending and slowing cloud growth.
• Capital expenditures hit $37.5 billion, a 66% increase year-over-year, surpassing analyst estimates.
• Azure cloud revenue grew 38%, meeting projections but slowing by one percentage point from the previous quarter.
• Investors are concerned about high capital expenditure growth outpacing Azure's slightly slower growth, questioning the return on AI investments.
• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reported 15 million M365 Copilot subscriptions, indicating growing AI adoption among corporate users.

Why It Matters: Microsoft's stock fell sharply as high AI investment costs and slowing Azure growth raised investor concerns.