Microsoft (MSFT) – Get the report from Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Shares hit a new record high on Thursday after the tech giant posted profits of more than $ 20 billion in the first quarter, fueled in part by surging demand for its cloud computing services.
Microsoft said revenue from Azure, its flagship cloud division, increased 48% from a year ago, helping the group’s overall revenue rise 22% to a record $ 45.3 billion. dollars for the three months ending in September, Microsoft’s first fiscal quarter. The group’s net profit was also a record, at $ 20.5 billion, with profits rising nearly 25% from a year ago to $ 2.27 per share.
As for the December quarter, Microsoft said cloud revenue could reach around $ 18.2 billion, alongside personal computing and its business division, but warned that the disruption in the business chain ‘supply could affect sales of its popular XBox game console.
“We have the most diverse set of digital businesses and we are innovating to extend our opportunity across the portfolio to help our clients in this new era,†CEO Satya Nadella told investors on a conference call Tuesday evening. “Next week we will be having our flagship Ignite conference where we will share the next chapter of Microsoft Cloud, from metaverse to large-scale AI, from hybrid work to hybrid infrastructure. I couldn’t be more optimistic about the opportunities ahead.
Microsoft shares rose 24.3% late in the morning to change hands to $ 323.40 each, a move that would take the stock’s annual gain to around 45%. The stock hit a new all-time high of $ 324.80 each earlier in the session.
The group’s productivity and business process unit revenue rose 22% to $ 15 billion, while smart cloud revenue jumped 31% to $ 17 billion. Gaming revenue increased 16% and Windows OEM revenue increased 10%.
“Azure is expected to experience healthy growth and benefit from the momentum of Microsoft 365, although this growth will be moderate due to the installed base,” said Timothy Horan, analyst at Oppenheimer, who obtained an “outperformance” rating with a Price target of $ 330 on the stock.
“Azure is gaining share and should benefit from Arc, which helps large enterprises manage applications at the edge or in multi-cloud.
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