Microsoft recently said that it is plowing ahead in order to sell its cloud computing services to big businesses and the Government. Microsoft had reported a fiscal second-quarter profit of around $11.6 billion, which went up to 36 percent from the same period in the last year.
Microsoft had earlier posted a revenue of $36.9 billion in the October-December period, which went up to 14 percent, from last year. It had also beaten forecasts.
What Are The Analysts Saying?
The analysts that were polled by FactSet had expected Microsoft to earn around $1.32 per share on a revenue of $35.7 billion for the October-December quarter. There is a prediction a forecast of $1.24 in earnings per share on a revenue of $34.1 billion for the January-March quarter.
Heather Bellini, an analyst with Goldman Sachs said that Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing business has been growing faster than the broader cloud market. Also, the revenue of Azure had grown up quarterly by 62 percent, as compared to last year.
Bellini even talked about the price increases that had begun in October 2018, and are continuing to drive revenue. Microsoft, however, moves to phase out older products like Windows 7, which was launched in 2009.
How Is Amazon Reacting?
Microsoft has been putting in constant endeavours in order to catch up to No.1 cloud provider Amazon, had gotten a big boost. This was when the US Department of Defense had awarded Microsoft a $10 billion contract to supply the US military with cloud services for the upcoming decade.
Amazon is however not too happy and has been protesting Microsoft’s award, stating that President Donald Trump had been influencing the bidding process, and had asked the US Court of Federal Claims this month, to halt any substantial work while the lawsuit proceeds.
Some More Stats
The hardware business of Microsoft’s Surface hardware business had grown by 6 percent from the same time last year after Microsoft had launched new laptops and tablets. On the other hand, rival firm Xbox gaming system had experienced an 11 percent decline as Microsoft’s gaming division is yet to release a new console. Reports say that Microsoft’s revenue has grown by around 24 percent from LinkedIn.
CEO Satya Nadella had celebrated the strong profit and revenue in a statement, also stating that the technology Microsoft builds is inclusive, trusted and that it creates a more sustainable world.
Earlier Satya Nadella has said that by 2030, Microsoft would be removing more carbon from the environment than it emits. Microsoft is planning to cut down emissions from its business and supply chain, in order to help fund the development of adopting a new technology that would emit carbon from the air.