ESP8266 only responds to first AT command

Question

While interfacing the ESP8266 module to PIC18F4550, I noticed that the ESP8266 only responds to the first AT command that is transmitted by the PIC MCU. It will not respond for the rest of the commands that follow. I have tried increasing the delay between each AT commands up to 500ms to allow ESP module to process but the behavior is the same.

Following is the logic analyzer trace of the output from PIC MCU Tx pin and the output from ESP8266 Tx pin when 3 consecutive AT commands are send with 20ms delay in between.

Following is the code is used to send the "AT\r\n" 3 times to ESP8266.

// PIC18F4550 Configuration Bit Settings

// 'C' source line config statements

// CONFIG1L
#pragma config PLLDIV = 5       // PLL Prescaler Selection bits (No prescale (4 MHz oscillator input drives PLL directly))
#pragma config CPUDIV = OSC1_PLL2// System Clock Postscaler Selection bits ([Primary Oscillator Src: /1][96 MHz PLL Src: /2])
#pragma config USBDIV = 1       // USB Clock Selection bit (used in Full-Speed USB mode only; UCFG:FSEN = 1) (USB clock source comes directly from the primary oscillator block with no postscale)

// CONFIG1H
#pragma config FOSC = HSPLL_HS  // Oscillator Selection bits (HS Oscillator, PLL enabled)
#pragma config FCMEN = OFF      // Fail-Safe Clock Monitor Enable bit (Fail-Safe Clock Monitor disabled)
#pragma config IESO = OFF       // Internal/External Oscillator Switchover bit (Oscillator Switchover mode disabled)

// CONFIG2L
#pragma config PWRT = OFF       // Power-up Timer Enable bit (PWRT disabled)
#pragma config BOR = OFF         // Brown-out Reset Enable bits (Brown-out Reset enabled in hardware only (SBOREN is disabled))
#pragma config BORV = 3         // Brown-out Reset Voltage bits (Minimum setting 2.05V)
#pragma config VREGEN = OFF     // USB Voltage Regulator Enable bit (USB voltage regulator disabled)

// CONFIG2H
#pragma config WDT = OFF         // Watchdog Timer Enable bit (WDT enabled)
#pragma config WDTPS = 32768    // Watchdog Timer Postscale Select bits (1:32768)

// CONFIG3H
#pragma config CCP2MX = ON      // CCP2 MUX bit (CCP2 input/output is multiplexed with RC1)
#pragma config PBADEN = ON      // PORTB A/D Enable bit (PORTB<4:0> pins are configured as analog input channels on Reset)
#pragma config LPT1OSC = OFF    // Low-Power Timer 1 Oscillator Enable bit (Timer1 configured for higher power operation)
#pragma config MCLRE = ON       // MCLR Pin Enable bit (MCLR pin enabled; RE3 input pin disabled)

// CONFIG4L
#pragma config STVREN = ON      // Stack Full/Underflow Reset Enable bit (Stack full/underflow will cause Reset)
#pragma config LVP = OFF         // Single-Supply ICSP Enable bit (Single-Supply ICSP enabled)
#pragma config ICPRT = OFF      // Dedicated In-Circuit Debug/Programming Port (ICPORT) Enable bit (ICPORT disabled)
#pragma config XINST = OFF      // Extended Instruction Set Enable bit (Instruction set extension and Indexed Addressing mode disabled (Legacy mode))

// CONFIG5L
#pragma config CP0 = OFF        // Code Protection bit (Block 0 (000800-001FFFh) is not code-protected)
#pragma config CP1 = OFF        // Code Protection bit (Block 1 (002000-003FFFh) is not code-protected)
#pragma config CP2 = OFF        // Code Protection bit (Block 2 (004000-005FFFh) is not code-protected)
#pragma config CP3 = OFF        // Code Protection bit (Block 3 (006000-007FFFh) is not code-protected)

// CONFIG5H
#pragma config CPB = OFF        // Boot Block Code Protection bit (Boot block (000000-0007FFh) is not code-protected)
#pragma config CPD = OFF        // Data EEPROM Code Protection bit (Data EEPROM is not code-protected)

// CONFIG6L
#pragma config WRT0 = OFF       // Write Protection bit (Block 0 (000800-001FFFh) is not write-protected)
#pragma config WRT1 = OFF       // Write Protection bit (Block 1 (002000-003FFFh) is not write-protected)
#pragma config WRT2 = OFF       // Write Protection bit (Block 2 (004000-005FFFh) is not write-protected)
#pragma config WRT3 = OFF       // Write Protection bit (Block 3 (006000-007FFFh) is not write-protected)

// CONFIG6H
#pragma config WRTC = OFF       // Configuration Register Write Protection bit (Configuration registers (300000-3000FFh) are not write-protected)
#pragma config WRTB = OFF       // Boot Block Write Protection bit (Boot block (000000-0007FFh) is not write-protected)
#pragma config WRTD = OFF       // Data EEPROM Write Protection bit (Data EEPROM is not write-protected)

// CONFIG7L
#pragma config EBTR0 = OFF      // Table Read Protection bit (Block 0 (000800-001FFFh) is not protected from table reads executed in other blocks)
#pragma config EBTR1 = OFF      // Table Read Protection bit (Block 1 (002000-003FFFh) is not protected from table reads executed in other blocks)
#pragma config EBTR2 = OFF      // Table Read Protection bit (Block 2 (004000-005FFFh) is not protected from table reads executed in other blocks)
#pragma config EBTR3 = OFF      // Table Read Protection bit (Block 3 (006000-007FFFh) is not protected from table reads executed in other blocks)

// CONFIG7H
#pragma config EBTRB = OFF      // Boot Block Table Read Protection bit (Boot block (000000-0007FFh) is not protected from table reads executed in other blocks)

// #pragma config statements should precede project file includes.
// Use project enums instead of #define for ON and OFF.

#include <xc.h>
#include <pic18f4550.h>

#define _XTAL_FREQ 48000000

void USART_send_string(char *msg);

void main(void) {
    TRISCbits.TRISC6 = 1; 
    TRISCbits.TRISC7 = 1; 
    
    BAUDCONbits.BRG16 = 0;
    TXSTA = 0x24;
    RCSTA = 0x90;
    SPBRG = 25;

    USART_send_string("AT\r\n");
    __delay_ms(20);
    USART_send_string("AT\r\n");
    __delay_ms(20);
    USART_send_string("AT\r\n");
    __delay_ms(20);

    while(1)
     {}
     }

void USART_send_string(char *msg)
{
    while (*msg != '\0')
    {
        while(TXIF == 0);
        TXREG = *msg;
        *msg++;
    }
}

This behavior is the same if I use other commands such as "AT+CWMODE", "AT+CIPMUX", etc. Why could be the cause of this?