Sales in the quarter grew 12.0% on a like-for-like basis to 239.8 million euros ($263.3 million), nearly matching a company-provided consensus expectation for 12.5% growth.

"Our growth dynamic remains strong, even if our customers are still careful in their spending," finance chief Stéphanie Besnier told analysts on a call.

J.P.Morgan flagged the slight miss on sales, adding they were nonetheless in line with company's full-year guidance for growth of 11-13%.

In October, OVH gave a lower-than-expected revenue target for 2024, citing macroeconomic uncertainties. Some global cloud companies, including sector major Oracle, have also reported cloud sales below expectations.

"We maintain a steadfast belief that the cloud transition is still in its early stage," Chief Executive Michel Paulin told analysts.

The CEO said the group expected "substantial growth within the overall market and notably for OVHcloud," adding the company would give more details on its strategy and outlook during an investor day on Jan. 17.

During the investor day, "the group should demonstrate that with good control of its fixed costs, operating profit for 2026 could well exceed current consensus expectations and our own," Stifel analysts said in a note.

On Thursday, OVHcloud confirmed its targets for 2024 and 2025. The company's shares were down 0.4% as of 1026 GMT.

($1 = 0.9107 euros)

(Reporting by Olivier Sorgho; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Mark Potter)