Microsoft Q2 Profit Tops View On Strong Cloud Business

(RTTNews) - Software giant Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Tuesday reported a profit for the fourth quarter that trumped analysts' estimates, reflecting strong growth in cloud business.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft reported fourth-quarter profit of $3.12 billion or $0.39 per share, compared to last year's loss of $3.20 billion or $0.40 per share.

Last year's loss reflects the hefty impairment charge of $7.5 billion related to the write down of Nokia business, in addition to a restructuring charge of $780 million due to job cuts.

Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.69 per share compared to $0.62 last year. On average, 28 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.58 per share for the quarter.

Revenues for the quarter dropped to $20.61 billion from $22.18 billion last year. Adjusted revenues for the quarter were $22.61 billion. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $22.14 billion for the quarter.

Intelligent Cloud segment, which includes its Azure on-demand computing services, revenues grew 7 percent to $6.7 billion, with Azure revenues surging 102%.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said, "The Microsoft Cloud is seeing significant customer momentum and we're well positioned to reach new opportunities in the year ahead."

Under Satya Nadella, Microsoft has been transforming itself and focusing more on cloud-based services as PC shipments continue to drop.

Revenues in productivity and business processes grew 5 percent to $7.0 billion. Revenues in More Personal Computing segment, which includes Windows operating system, declined 4 percent to $8.9 billion.

Last month, Microsoft announced its largest-ever acquisition when the software giant bought LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD.N) for $26.2 billion.

MSFT closed Tuesday's trading at $53.09, down $0.87 or 1.61 % on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, gained $1.84 or 3.47% in the after-hours trade.