Microsoft Shares Surge Past Highs, Lifted by Cloud Demand
- Azure revenue jumps 50% as corporate clients move to cloud
- Quarterly gaming revenue tops $5 billion for first time
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Microsoft Corp. said fiscal second-quarter sales rose 17%, a faster clip than analysts projected, thanks to buoyant demand for corporate cloud-computing services and software tools that support at-home workers. Shares rose in late trading.
Revenue in the period ended Dec. 31 rose to $43.1 billion, the Redmond, Washington-based software maker said Tuesday in a statement. That exceeded the $40.2 billion average estimate of analysts polled by Bloomberg, and marked Microsoft’s 14th straight quarter of double-digit revenue growth. Net income was $15.5 billion, or $2.03 a share. Analysts had predicted $1.64.