By Emily Bary
CEO says AI is helping the company win new customers
Microsoft Corp. posted beats across the board with its latest results Tuesday afternoon, calling out momentum in the cloud and traction with artificial intelligence.
Microsoft’s (MSFT) Azure and other cloud-services businesses posted revenue growth of 28% on a constant-currency basis in the fiscal second quarter. Analysts expected Azure constant-currency revenue growth of 27% for the period.
Overall, Microsoft recorded $62.0 billion in revenue for its latest quarter, up from $52.7 billion a year earlier. Analysts were modeling $61.1 billion.
“By infusing AI across every layer of our tech stack, we’re winning new customers and helping drive new benefits and productivity gains across every sector,” Chief Executive Satya Nadella said in a release.
The company generated $19.2 billion in revenue from its productivity and business-processes segment, which houses Office. Analysts were modeling $18.6 billion.
Intelligent cloud revenue was up 20% to $25.9 billion, while the FactSet consensus was for $25.3 billion.
The More Personal Computing segment, which includes Xbox and Windows, saw revenue rise 19% to $16.9 billion and edging ahead of the consensus view, which was for $16.8 billion.
Microsoft typically offers an outlook on its earnings call.
For the latest quarter, Microsoft posted net income of $21.9 billion, or $2.93 a share, up from $16.4 billion, or $2.20, in the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share came in ahead of the consensus view, which was for $2.79.
Shares of Microsoft have risen 21% over the past three months, and they’re up 69% over a 12-month span.
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