Microsoft's cloud business boosts third-quarter revenue up by 14%

Redmond-headquartered software maker Microsoft has reported a 14% increase in revenue for its third quarter to reach $30.6 billion, boosted by momentum in the cloud business.

“Leading organizations of every size in every industry trust the Microsoft cloud. We are accelerating our innovation across the cloud and edge so our customers can build the digital capability increasingly required to compete and grow,” Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, said.

The company had reported revenue of $26.8 billion in the corresponding period last fiscal year.

Net profit for the company surged 19% to $8.8 billion for the quarter ended March from $7.4 billion a year earlier. 

Chief financial officer Amy Hood said demand for the company's cloud offerings drove commercial cloud revenue 41% higher to $9.6 billion during the quarter. Commercial cloud revenue includes Azure services, LinkedIn and Office 365.

“We continue to drive growth in revenue and operating income with consistent execution from our sales teams and partners and targeted strategic investments,” she added.  

However, the growth in cloud services seemed to have slowed a bit when compared to the revenue generated during the second quarter in the current fiscal year. The company had shown a 48% growth in cloud services in the quarter ended December 2018.

In terms of segments, Office commercial products and cloud services revenue showed an increase of 12% driven by Office 365. Office consumer products and services showed a revenue increase of 8%, and the company said that its Office 365 consumer version has seen an increase in subscribers to reach 34.2 million.

Hood also said that LinkedIn revenue had increased 27% with record levels of engagement highlighted by LinkedIn sessions growth of 24%.

The company also said that its revenue from server products and cloud services surged 27%, driven by Azure's revenue growth.

At the personal computing level, the company said its Windows OEM revenue had increased 9% while revenue from Surface devices and gaming increased 21% and 5%, respectively.