Sales, profit down at Microsoft but Q3 results beat analysts forecasts.Microsoft announced revenue of $20.40 billion for the third quarter ending March 31 (Q3), a drop from $20.49 billion recorded the same time a year ago due to Windows revenue deferral last year.
Q3 net profit also fell to $5.66 billion from $6.06 billion a year ago. The results, which were above analysts forecasts, pushed Microsoft’s share price higher.
However, Microsoft Devices and Consumer revenue grew 12% to $8.30 billion as sales of Surface, Xbox One and Office 365 soared.
Microsoft says it sold in 2 million Xbox’s, including 1.2 million Xbox Ones during the quarter.
Surface sales grew 50% to $500 million, Surface 2 tablet is also extremely popular in Australia, despite a lukewarm reception for the original model.
Commercial revenues also grew 7% to $12.23 billion as demand for cloud storage increases. Office 365 sales grew over 100%, and a strong enterprise momentum for Microsoft’s cloud, commercial seats nearly doubled.
Windows sales to PC manufacturers grew 4%, driven by 19% growth in Windows OEM Pro.
Office 365 Home subscribers rose to 4.4 million, adding nearly 1 million subscribers in just three months, just weeks after Office for iPad was released.
Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO said, “this quarter’s results demonstrate the strength of our business, as well as the opportunities we see in a mobile-first, cloud-first world.
“We are making good progress in our consumer services like Bing and Office 365 Home, and our commercial customers continue to embrace our cloud solutions. Both position us well for long-term growth.”
