Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) are up 8% after the technology giant announced earnings and forward guidance that exceeded Wall Street forecasts.
The Seattle-based software company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.45 U.S. versus $2.23 U.S. that was expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv data.
Revenue in this year’s first quarter totaled $52.86 billion U.S. compared to $51.02 billion U.S. that had been forecast.
Looking ahead, Microsoft said that it expects $54.85 billion U.S. to $55.85 billion U.S. in revenue for the current second quarter, which is ahead of the $54.84 billion U.S. consensus among analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
The company said that it expects artificial intelligence (A.I.) to lead its future growth. Microsoft has invested more than $10 billion U.S. in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT and is integrating the technology into its search engine Bing.
Revenue in Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud business segment, which includes the Azure public cloud, totaled $22.08 billion U.S. in Q1, up 27% from a year ago.
Microsoft’s Teams communication app had more than 300 million monthly active users at the end of Q1, up from 280 million in the previous quarter.
The company’s Personal Computing segment that includes Bing, Windows, and Xbox, delivered $13.26 billion U.S. in Q1 revenue, down 9% from a year earlier.
The Bing search engine now has more than 100 million daily active users, and revenue from gaming subscriptions is approaching $1 billion U.S., the company said.
Aside from today’s move higher, Microsoft’s stock has gained 2% over the last 12 months to trade at $275.42 U.S. per share.
Tech Insider
