Intelligent Cloud helps Microsoft post better profits in Q4

Driven by exponential growth in its intelligent Azure Cloud offering, Microsoft has reported much better profits than expected for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017, which ended on June 30.

The company reported a revenue of $23.3 billion and net income of $6.5 billion. "Innovation across our cloud platforms drove strong results this quarter," said CEO Satya Nadella in a statement late on Thursday.

Microsoft returned $4.6 billion to shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends in the fourth quarter.

"We delivered a strong finish to the year with 30 per cent growth in commercial bookings this quarter," said Amy Hood, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Microsoft.

"We will continue to invest in key areas that drive future growth for Microsoft and our customers," Hood added.

Revenue in Intelligent Cloud was $7.4 billion and increased 11 per cent.

"Server products and cloud services revenue increased 15 per cent, driven by Azure revenue growth of 97 per cent," the statement said.

Office commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 5 per cent, driven by Office 365 commercial revenue growth of 43 per cent.

"Office consumer products and cloud services revenue increased 13 per cent and Office 365 consumer subscribers increased to 27 million," Microsoft said.

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn contributed revenue of $1.1 billion during the fourth quarter.

Revenue in More Personal Computing was $8.8 billion and decreased 2 per cent driven primarily by lower phone revenue.

Windows Surface revenue also decreased 2 per cent mainly due to product lifecycle transitions.

"Search advertising revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs increased 10 per cent driven by higher revenue per search and search volume," the company stated.

Microsoft stocks rose 4 percent after the company reported its earnings.

"Customers are looking to Microsoft and our thriving partner ecosystem to accelerate their own digital transformations and to unlock new opportunity in this era of intelligent cloud and intelligent edge," Nadella said.

--IANS

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