Microsoft earnings will land after the close

Microsoft is set to report quarterly results after the market close on Wednesday.

For the fiscal first quarter, which ended on Sept. 30, Microsoft will be reporting under two operating segments for the first time since 1998. For the past 11 years it had three segments that divided up its Azure, Office and Windows businesses.

Microsoft will also begin disclosing Azure cloud revenue in dollars. Analysts polled by StreetAccount are expecting $32.32 billion, which would represent growth of more than 44%.

The software giant has been working to become a bigger force in artificial intelligence through infrastructure expansion and product enhancements, while continuing to produce free cash flow, unlike its fellow hyperscalers.

Cloud rivals Alphabet and Amazon , which report results on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, both showed negative free cash flow in the June quarter, while Meta said last week that it went free cash flow negative in the third quarter.

As of Tuesday's close, Microsoft shares were up almost 10% year to date, trailing the S&P 500 index, which has gained about 13% over the same period.

During the fiscal first quarter, Microsoft said it would cut 4,800 jobs , and followed up by announcing on Monday that it's offering buyouts to up to 60,000 employees, as it strives to balance a costly AI build-out with capital efficiency.

Analysts surveyed by StreetAccount projected $50.67 billion in capital expenditures and finance leases for the quarter.

Microsoft also established, during the quarter, an AI implementation unit and revealed a Copilot AI "super app " with coding abilities.

Executives will discuss the results with analysts and issue guidance on a conference call starting at 5:30 p.m. ET.