Technology

Microsoft fourth quarter profit beats expectations on strong cloud demand

US tech company’s quarterly profits and revenue were better than expected

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella is seen speaking on a large screen during the Microsoft Inspire conference in Washington DC on July 10th, 2017. ‘Innovation across our cloud platforms drove strong results this quarter,’ he said of the tech giant’s quarterly results. Photograph: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Thu Jul 20 2017 - 22:37

Microsoft Corp reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue, helped by a strong performance in its fast-growing cloud business.

The company’s shares rose as much as 1.5 per cent in trading after the bell on Thursday. They had touched a record high of $74.30 in regular trading.

Microsoft said revenue from its cloud unit, which includes the flagship Azure platform and server products, rose about 11 per cent to $7.43 billion in the fourth quarter.

Analysts on average had expected revenue of $7.32 billion, according to data and analytics firm FactSet.

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Revenue from Azure nearly doubled in the quarter. The service competes with Amazon Web Services as well as offerings from Alphabet Inc's Google, IBM and Oracle Corp.

Cloud first

Microsoft has sharpened its focus on the fast-growing cloud computing unit as part of chief executive Satya Nadella’s “mobile first, cloud first” strategy to offset weakness in the personal computer market.

The company’s net income more than doubled to $6.51 billion, or 83 cents per share, in the quarter ended June 30th from $3.12 billion, or 39 cents per share, a year earlier.

Commenting on the reults Mr Nadella said: “Innovation across our cloud platforms drove strong results this quarter. Customers are looking to Microsoft and our thriving partner ecosystem to accelerate their own digital transformations and to unlock new opportunity in this era of intelligent cloud and intelligent edge.”

Excluding one-time items, Microsoft earned 98 cents per share. On an adjusted basis, revenue rose 9.1 percent to $24.7 billion.

Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of 71 cents per share and revenue of $24.27 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

- Reuters

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