Microsoft's Azure growth slips below 50% for first time

Microsoft said revenue in its Intelligent Cloud segment rose 17% to $13.4 billion, with 47% growth in Azure.Analysts on average had expected revenue of $13.09 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.Azure's growth rate is the best direct measure of competition with rivals like Amazon.com Inc'sAWS and Alphabet Inc'sGoogle Cloud, as Microsoft does not break out revenue from Azure.