Microsoft Corp could once again unseat Apple as most valuable company

Microsoft Corp. is in the technology sweet spot. With another stellar quarter fueled by growth of the cloud computing business, the software giant is showing that it could have the best fundamental outlook among its tech giant peers.

The company said revenue totaled $45.3 billion in its fiscal first quarter, a jump of 22% from a year earlier and more than the $43.9 billion median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Profits also surpassed expectations. Microsoft’s shares climbed as much as 2% in after-hours trading.

There is logic to the positive reaction: The main drivers of the strong results are sustainable