Microsoft shares hit record-high after strong earnings

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) – Microsoft shares climbed to an all-time high Thursday after the tech giant reported its revenues rose 3.1 percent to $22.33 billion in the July-September period it counts as the first quarter of the 2017 fiscal year.

Microsoft posted $21.66 billion in revenues during the same period last year.

Net income jumped 11.3 percent to $5.99 billion, from $5.38 billion a year ago.

Those earnings helped shares jump 6.1 percent to $60.75 in after-hours trading on the stock market.

The previous record high for Microsoft shares was recorded right before the turn of the millennium as the entire tech industry was unease about a potential computer glitch that could have disrupted computer operations around the world knows as Y2K.

On Dec. 30, 1999, Microsoft stock price had reached $59.97 in intraday trading before settling at $59.56.

Much of the highlights in the earnings report is owed to the growth in Microsoft’s cloud business that has offset losses in the company’s phone division and gaming revenues.

"Commercial cloud annualized revenue run rate exceeds $13.0 billion," the company said in a statement.

Revenues from personal computing, however, declined 2 percent, while phone and gaming revenues fell 72 percent and 5 percent, respectively.