Microsoft Corp.’s share price up, posts upbeat third-quarter net income due to cloud gains

Microsoft Corp. made an official statement yesterday, revealing that its third-quarter net income was 5.66 billion dollars, or 68 cents a share, beating analysts projections of 63 cents per share. The company also revealed a 20.4-billion-dollar sales that matched the median analysts estimate.

The results once again proved that Microsofts strategy to bet on cloud computing is working. Mr. Satya Nadella, who took the position of the Chief Executive Officer of the company a few months ago, is considered to be pushing Microsoft in the right direction, shifting its focus towards software and devices deliveries over the Internet. He reshuffled the managers team of the company and made changes in units such as business development, Xbox, hardware and marketing.

The company also shared in its statement that its sales generated from the cloud-based Office 365 increased more than two times during the quarter ended March 31st. Microsoft also reported that its Azure revenue also more than doubled.

Microsofts Chief Executive Officer Nadella said in a statement, which was cited by the Financial Times: “I see a world where computing is more ubiquitous and all experiences are powered by ambient intelligence.” He realizes the importance of his role and the necessity to meet the high expectations of both customers and analysts, saying that this path requires “courage in the face of reality”.

In addition, the companys gross margin in the Commercial Other segment was reported to have risen by 80%. Ms. Amy Hood, who is the Chief Financial Officer of Microsoft, said in a statement, which was cited by Bloomberg: “It’s an ongoing effort. We meet monthly to go through this data and we set bars and raise them.”

Microsoft Corp. was 0.45% up to close at 39.86 dollars per share yesterday, marking a one-year change of +25.50%. According to the information published on CNN Money, the 28 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Microsoft Corp. have a median target of 40.00, with a high estimate of 50.00 and a low estimate of 29.00. The median estimate represents a +0.35% increase from the last price of 39.86.