Strong sales of cloud products to businesses helped lift Microsoft's revenue by 18 percent last quarter, though its profits declined.



From Computerworld:

Revenue for the quarter ended June 30 was US$23.4 billion, up from $19.9 billion last year and ahead of the consensus analyst estimate of $23 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

The revenue figure includes $2 billion from the Nokia Devices and Services business that Microsoft acquired. That deal closed 25 days after the start of the quarter.

Net income was $4.6 billion, or $0.55 per share, down from $4.9 billion, or $0.59 per share, a year earlier, and 5 cents below the Wall Street analysts' consensus expectation. On a per-share basis, profit was down 7 percent year over year, including an $0.08 loss from the Nokia business.

  Microsoft revenue lifted by cloud sales to businesses