- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Odegaard injury has forced Arsenal to be 'different', says Arteta
- Ratcliffe refuses to guarantee Ten Hag's Man Utd future
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Mauritius to hold legislative election on November 10
- Britain qualify for America's Cup final after 60-year wait
- IMF asks Sri Lanka to protect hard-won gains
- Morata returns to Spain Nations League squad after injury
- Irish regulator to probe Ryanair use of facial recognition
- Public allowed to see video evidence in France mass rape trial
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- Under-fire Ten Hag 'together' with Man Utd hierarchy
- Guardiola talks of Man City love affair as financial hearing rumbles on
Cloud computing helps power strong Microsoft quarter
Microsoft on Tuesday reported strong quarterly earnings, powered by demand for cloud computing.
The tech titan said it made a profit of $16.7 billion on revenue of $49.4 billion in the first three months of this year, eight percent and 18 percent, respectively, more than in the period a year earlier.
"Going forward, digital technology will be the key input that powers the world's economic output," said Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella.
"Across the tech stack, we are expanding our opportunity and taking share as we help customers differentiate, build resilience, and do more with less."
Microsoft shares rose more than four percent to $282.44 on the earnings figures, which came with an optimistic outlook for the current financial quarter.
Revenue in the company's "intelligent cloud" unit that meshes datacenter-hosted software with artificial intelligence surged from the same period a year earlier, Microsoft reported.
"Continued customer commitment to our cloud platform and strong sales execution drove better-than-expected commercial bookings growth" along with cloud computing revenue, Microsoft chief financial officer Amy Hood said in the earnings release.
The pandemic accelerated a shift to relying on the internet for work, education, shopping, socializing and entertainment, with Microsoft seemingly positioned to benefit from lifestyle changes that will remain even as people return to being out and about.
A business and productivity unit at Microsoft that includes its online suite of Office 365 software saw revenue grow with the help of a 34 percent increase in money taken in by career-focused online social network LinkedIn, the earnings report showed.
"Growth for LinkedIn was the most surprising," CFRA equity research vice president John Freeman told AFP.
"LinkedIn continued to be Microsoft's lower profile success story. That acquisition is looking better and better every year and every quarter."
Microsoft bought LinkedIn for slightly more than $26 billion in 2016.
Money taken in for content and services at Microsoft's Xbox video game division rose four percent in the recently ended quarter as the company works to beef up its cloud-based games subscription offering.
Microsoft is seeking regulatory approval for its $69 billion deal to buy video game powerhouse Activision Blizzard.
Merging with troubled Activision will make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony, it said, a major shift in the booming world of games.
Activision, the California-based maker of "Candy Crush," has been hit by employee protests, departures, and a state lawsuit alleging it enabled toxic workplace conditions and sexual harassment.
"Acquiring Activision will help jump start Microsoft's broader gaming endeavors and ultimately its move into the metaverse with gaming the first monetization piece of the metaverse in our opinion," Wedbush analysts said after the news broke.
A.Aguiar--PC