Microsoft beats market expectations and reports $35 billion in revenues

"COVID-19 had minimal net impact on the total revenue," stated the company.

29.Apr.2020 18:31 BRT
UPDATED 18:38 BRT

The tech giant business was largely pushed by higher demand for its cloud solutions like Teams and Azure amid the coronavirus crisis;
Microsoft recorded $35 billion in revenue, up from $30.6 billion in the same quarter last year, and $10.8 billion in net income, up 22%.

Microsoft reported this Wednesday, 29, its fiscal third-quarter earnings with a positive $35 billion in revenue, up from $30.6 billion in the same quarter last year, and $10.8 billion in net income, up 22%.

Overcoming Wall Street estimates, which were betting on $33.66 billion in revenues, the tech giant business was largely pushed by higher demand for its cloud solutions like Teams and Azure amid the coronavirus crisis. Microsoft’s overall commercial cloud division – Azure cloud computing platform, Office 365 and other services – reached $13.3 billion in sales for the period, 39% more YoY. The company said that, in the fiscal third quarter, COVID-19 had minimal net impact on the total revenue.

“We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months. From remote teamwork and learning, to sales and customer service, to critical cloud infrastructure and security – we are working alongside customers every day to help them adapt and stay open for business in a world of remote everything,” said CEO Satya Nadella in the official report. “Our durable business model, diversified portfolio, and differentiated technology stack position us well for what’s ahead.”

Among other highlights, the company announced that Azure revenue grew 59% YoY, without, however, reporting actual revenue figures for the cloud service. “Productivity and Business Processes” unit, which includes Office products for businesses and customers, LinkedIn revenue and Dynamics products and cloud services, rose by 15%, to $11.7 billion. Microsoft has been watching a surge in the demand for remote work tools during these times.

Despite the good news, a slowdown in transactional licensing, especially for SMB, and a cut in LinkedIn ad spend during the quarter were also disclosed. Stocks were up about 1% in after-hours trading, reaching more than $179 per share. Microsoft did not disclose particular information regarding Latin America in its earnings report.