Software-maker giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT): What Should look in Earning numbers

Software-maker giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced its earnings reports for the last quarter as its profits nearly doubled to $5.3 billion, following development from its cloud computing business.

The company highlighted  that impressive results shows its focal point on cloud computing – software, storage and other services connected over the internet is effective.

REDMOND, WA-based giant has been taking big strides in its business to become less dependent on computer sales and older software products.

Earlier in July Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)revealed it would sort out its sales force and slash jobs.

Meanwhile according to reports, company’s CEO Satya Nadella has highly emphasized on the cloud business and selling to the growing number of firms looking to carry out more work online. That importance is paying off in sales and renewals, reports added.

Company’s recorded revenue of $23.3 billion in the quarter, up from $20.6 billion year over year. Profits in the quarter were $5.3 billion, up from $3bn year over year.

Chief executive Satya Nadella said in a statement that “overall the approach we have taken for multiple years now is to transform everything that we do.  We’ve now got very good customer momentum.”

Microsoft stock surged above 3% in after-market trading after the Seattle tech giant’s earnings topped analyst outlook.

Typically, on announcement everybody was keen to know about the performance of Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform. Although Azure’s growth has hindered bit over the last few quarters, it still is one of the major drivers of Microsoft’s top-line growth.

Moreover in the previous three month period, Microsoft (MSFT)posted $6.8 billion in revenue for its “Intelligent Cloud” business, which comprises more than just Azure and said its yearly cloud run rate was $15.2 billion.