According to CoinMeta, Microsoft’s quarterly cloud business revenue, announced on Wednesday, exceeded expectations, indicating that the company’s substantial investments in the field of artificial intelligence are beginning to pay off. In the first fiscal quarter ending in September, Microsoft’s cloud computing business revenue grew by 48% to reach $33.17 billion, surpassing the market’s forecast of $32.84 billion. Capital expenditure for that quarter was $45.2 billion, higher than $34.9 billion in the same period last year. Microsoft had previously predicted capital expenditure of $50 billion for the first fiscal quarter. The company reported free cash flow of $18.6 billion, while the market had anticipated it to be $8.54 billion. Microsoft is also the only large-scale cloud service provider that expects to maintain positive cash flow next year. Microsoft’s stock price rose nearly 6% after the market closed.