Microsoft Tops Profit Estimates Even as Strong Dollar Hurts Sales Growth
- Sales top estimates, but 11% gain is weakest since fiscal 2018
- Azure cloud services demand endures; Windows revenue slumps
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Microsoft Corp. posted its weakest quarterly revenue growth in five years, throttled by the surging U.S. dollar and a slump in sales of Windows software to personal-computer makers. Shares slipped in late trading.
Sales in the first quarter, which ended Sept. 30, rose 11% to $50.1 billion, the software maker said Tuesday in a statement. Net income was $17.6 billion, or $2.35 a share. While both numbers topped analysts’ average estimates, revenue from Microsoft’s closely watched Azure cloud-computing services decelerated to 35% -- partly because of foreign-currency exchange rates.