Microsoft Corp. said its cloud-computing business will continue to grow slowly in the current quarter as the company struggles to build enough data centers to handle demand for its artificial intelligence products.

Microsoft is stuck in an infrastructure investment arms race that could lead customers to ask difficult questions about costs, said analysts.

Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday that its profit for the October-December quarter grew 10% from the same time last year as it works to capitalize on the huge amounts of money it has spent to advance its artificial intelligence technology.

Microsoft reported slower-than-expected growth in its crucial Azure cloud business on Wednesday despite beating estimates for overall quarterly revenue, sending its shares down 4% in extended trading.

Microsoft on Wednesday forecast disappointing growth in its cloud computing business, sending its shares down 4.5% in after-hours trading as investors worry about big spending, elusive artificial intelligence revenue and competition from cheaper AI models from China.

Microsoft MSFT.O dropped 4.7% after forecasting disappointing growth in its cloud computing business. Meta Platforms META.O rose 4.5% after beating estimates for fourth-quarter revenue, but forecast that first-quarter sales might miss estimates.

Stocks are ticking higher on Wall Street following a rush of profit reports from some of the country’s most influential companies. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% in early Thursday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 14 points,