Microsoft Reports Gains in Cloud-Computing Business
January 31 2018 - 5:03PM
Dow Jones News
By Jay Greene
Microsoft Corp. posted big fiscal second-quarter gains in its
cloud-computing business, continuing to carve out a spot for itself
as the No. 2 company behind Amazon.com Inc. in renting computing
power and storage over the web.
The Redmond, Wash., company said it recorded a $13.8 billion
charge related to changes to U.S. tax law that drove the company
into a quarterly loss.
The two biggest pieces of Microsoft's cloud-computing operations
-- its Azure infrastructure services and Office 365
online-productivity business -- posted giant gains in the fiscal
second quarter that ended Dec. 31. Though Microsoft doesn't
disclose revenue for those businesses, it said Azure jumped 98% and
Office 365 grew 41%.
Microsoft's Intelligent Cloud segment, which includes Azure,
climbed 15% to $7.8 billion. Its Productivity and Business
Processes segment, which includes Office, gained 25% to $8.95
billion.
Overall, Microsoft posted a net loss of $6.3 billion, or 82
cents a share, under generally accepted accounting principles,
compared with a profit of $6.27 billion, or 80 cents a share, a
year earlier.
Excluding the impact of the tax law, Microsoft reported a profit
of $7.5 billion, or 96 cents a share.
The company posted $28.92 billion in revenue, a 12% gain, when
measured using the new accounting standard for year-ago
results.
Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Market Intelligence expected
Microsoft to report per-share earnings of 86 cents on revenue of
$28.41 billion.
Shares, which have climbed nearly 50% in the last year, setting
record highs, fell 2% to $93.30 in after-hours trading.
Write to Jay Greene at Jay.Greene@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 31, 2018 16:48 ET (21:48 GMT)
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