MS Q2 Net Profit Up 47% 'Surprise Earnings'

Leading 30% Rapid Growth in Cloud Services

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Microsoft (MS) in the United States recorded strong earnings in the second quarter of this year, surpassing Wall Street expectations in both revenue and net profit despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 27th (local time), through the Q2 earnings announcement (MS's own fiscal Q4), it was revealed that earnings per share reached $2.17, a 49% increase compared to the same period last year. This exceeded the market consensus of $1.92.

During the same period, revenue also rose 21% year-over-year to $46.15 billion, surpassing the market estimate of $44.24 billion. Operating income increased 42% year-over-year to $19.1 billion.

The MS cloud segment, centered on 'Azure,' led the strong performance with revenue of $17.38 billion, a 30% increase compared to the same period last year.

Azure, the cloud service competing with Amazon's AWS, grew 51% in Q2 this year, exceeding market expectations of 45.3%, continuing its rapid growth following 50% growth in Q1.

Satya Nadella, MS CEO, explained, "Commercial cloud, gaming, and security are driving overall growth," adding, "LinkedIn, a subsidiary acquired in 2016, has maintained a trend of surpassing $10 billion in annual revenue over the past three years."