Microsoft sales are increasing in demand for cloud services and services

Growing sales of PCs and game consoles, along with a growing reliance during the pandemic on digital services delivered through the cloud, drove Microsoft’s financial performance ahead of expectations during the first months of this year, according to data released on Tuesday afternoon.

However, the software company’s shares fell 3% in post-market trading, leaving some of this year’s strong gains.

They had already jumped 20 percent since early 2021, doing Microsoft the clear winner of the stock market among Big Tech companies and adding about $ 400 billion to its value.

Satya Nadella, chief executive, said the latest figures show that the “digital adoption curves” seen since the start of the pandemic have not slowed down as customers shifted more from their operations to cloud. “They’re accelerating and it’s just the beginning.”

Microsoft’s revenue rose 19% in the last quarter, to $ 41.7 billion, while its earnings per share rose 39%, to $ 1.95. Wall Street was expecting revenue of $ 41 billion and earnings per share of $ 1.77. Based on formal accounting principles, which included a single tax gain, earnings per share increased to $ 2.03.

Each of Microsoft’s three divisions performed better than expected, with the smart cloud business growing the strongest in revenue, by 23%. The growth of Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, slowed slightly, although with 46%, excluding the effect of currency changes, it was still ahead of most forecasts.

Commercial companies in the company’s cloud, the broadest measure of demand for digital services delivered from its centralized data centers, increased revenue by 33%, just slightly below the rate of the previous three months.

While new cloud companies led the growth, Microsoft’s financial performance also benefited from its traditional, top-tier PC software business. According to research firm Gartner, the number of PCs sold worldwide rose more than 30% in the first quarter. As a result, Microsoft’s revenue from the sale of Windows to computer manufacturers increased by 10%.

Along with a 34% increase in Xbox sales following the launch of a new console, Microsoft’s More Personal Computing division recorded revenue of $ 13 billion, up 19%.