Microsoft Q3 Profit Rises - Update

(RTTNews) - Software giant Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Thursday reported an increase in profit for the third-quarter that trumped analysts' estimates, driven largely by strong growth in cloud business, as the software giant continues its transition from key software business to cloud business.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft reported third-quarter profit of $4.80 billion or $0.61 per share, up from last year's profit of $3.76 billion or $0.47 per share.

Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.73 per share, up from $0.63 per share last year. On average, 28 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.70 per share for the quarter.

Revenues for the quarter rose to $22.09 billion from $20.53 billion last year. Adjusted revenues for the quarter were $23.6 billion. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $23.62 billion for the quarter.

Intelligent Cloud segment, which includes its Azure on-demand computing services, revenues increased 11 percent to $6.76 billion, with Azure revenues surging 93 percent.

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 climbed 22 percent to $7.96 billion. Revenues in More Personal Computing segment, which includes Windows operating system, declined 7 percent to $8.83 billion.

Worldwide shipments of traditional PCs--desktop, notebook, workstation- totaled 60.3 million units in the first quarter, up 0.6 percent from last year, recording first growth in fiver years,, according to the International Data Corporation.

MSFT closed Thursday's trading at $68.27, up $0.44 or 0.65%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, slipped $0.67 or 0.98% in the after-hours trade.