Two of America’s biggest tech firms raked in billions as earnings season in the US continued to provide positive surprises
Two of America’s biggest tech firms raked in billions as earnings season in the US continued to provide positive surprises. Microsoft reported profits of £15bn for the three months to the end of September, up from £10.1bn in the same period last year, while revenue rose 22pc to £32bn.
The figures smashed market expectations, which had predicted profits of £11.4bn and revenues of £32bn. Microsoft boss Satya Nadella flagged a strong performance in the firm’s cloud computing business, which generated £15bn in sales for the period, an increase of 36pc year-on-year.
The group’s productivity and business processes arm, which includes its Microsoft Office software suite and its LinkedIn social network, also saw revenues rise 22pc to £11bn in the period.
Meanwhile, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, posted a £13.7bn profit for the period compared to £8.1bn a year ago, while revenue jumped to £47.1bn from £33.5bn. Its results were also ahead of the £11.5bn in profits and £46bn in sales forecast by analysts.
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