Microsoft’s sales grow on cloud strength

Microsoft met analysts’ quarterly sales expectations and beat profit estimates, but its shares fell slightly as investors hoped for an even stronger performance after a year-long rally to a massive market valuation, Reuters reported.

The Redmond, Washington company has become one of the world’s most valuable companies, worth close to $2 trillion after its stock jumped 50% over the past year, by entering the booming market for cloud computing.

Microsoft has remained a household name during the pandemic through its Teams collaboration software.

Sales have even boomed for its Windows operating system for PCs, which had waned for decades as smartphone have proliferated.

Microsoft’s Azure cloud service is closing ground on market-share leader Amazon Web Services, and it is doubling down on productivity software used by businesses worldwide.

Revenue and adjusted earnings per share for the third quarter ended March 31 were $41.7 billion and $1.95 per share, above analysts’ estimates of $41.03 billion and $1.78 per share, according to data from Refinitiv.

Shares initially fell as much as 3.2% after the results were released, but they pared losses to 1.7%, at $257.50, after Microsoft executives gave a better-than-expected forecast during a conference call with investors.