Microsoft Hits $1 Trillion Market Cap After Earnings Beat Estimates

Microsoft Corporation saw its stock surge past $130.50 per share in extended trading Wednesday, taking its market cap briefly past $1 trillion. This followed buoyant fiscal third quarter results that saw strong performances from the Windows, Xbox/gaming, search advertising and Surface segments.

The positive earnings results helped Microsoft stock rise 4.3 percent in after-hours trading to $129.35. The stock opened at $125.79 and hit a high of $125.85 in regular trading.

In its earnings report, Microsoft revealed total revenues of $30.6 billion, up 14 percent year-on-year and ahead of the $29.84 billion expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. Net income ballooned 19 percent to $8.8 billion.

Microsoft said earnings improved to $1.14 per share (excluding certain items) compared to the $1.00 expected by analysts. Gross margin rose 66.7% compared to 65.4% a year earlier. Gross margin is the percentage of revenue remaining after accounting for the costs of goods sold.

Broken down by segment, Microsoft reported revenues of $10.2 billion in Productivity and Business Processes, $9.7 billion in Intelligent Cloud, and $10.7 billion in More Personal Computing (which includes Windows, gaming, and Surface revenue).

A big performer was Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud business, which includes Azure. The cloud grew 41 percent to $9.7 billion while Azure’s revenue surged 73 percent.

The growth of Microsoft’s cloud applications has seen users of its traditional productivity products, like Word and Excel, migrate to the cloud-based Office 365 suite. This inflow helps explain the 30 percent jump in Commercial sales of Office 365.

LinkedIn, the professional networking site Microsoft acquired in 2016, continues to grow much faster than the overall business, with revenues surging 27% in the quarter.

“We continue to believe the shift to the cloud will be additive to Microsoft given a broader portfolio of products with deeper functionality as well as Microsoft’s ability to enter new categories where it did not compete previously,” said Brad Reback, managing director and a senior equity research analyst at Stifel, Nicolaus & Company.

Microsoft, however, issued a note of caution in the earnings call, saying revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter will range from $32.2 billion to $32.9 billion. Analysts expect $32.6 billion, according to Refinitiv.

Microsoft is only the third publicly listed company after Apple Inc. and Amazon.com to cross the $1 trillion market cap threshold. Apple was the first, attaining this summit in Aug. 2, 2018.