Microsoft shares hit all-time high

Nadella's strategic focus on cloud appears to be paying off

Microsoft's share price has reached its highest ever value following its latest quarterly results, which were better than expected.

The firm's net profit was up six per cent year on year to $6bn for the three months to the end of September, with adjusted earnings coming in at $22.3bn.

This is higher than what analysts expected, which was $21.7bn.

The news sent Microsoft shares climbing six per cent to $60.73 in New York, which is above its previous record of $59.97, which came in 1999 during the dot-com boom.

The rise in profits was in part due to an eight per cent hike in cloud revenue to $6.4bn, with Microsoft stating that customer uptake of its Azure cloud computing platform had more than doubled in the past year.

These results chime perfectly with Computing's latest research into cloud trends, which found that UK-based enterprises are more likely to consume cloud services from Microsoft than any of its rivals, including Amazon.

Discussing the results, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (pictured) said that the changing business environment meant the cloud strategy was paying off.

"It's not just the Silicon Valley startups anymore; it is the core enterprise that is also becoming a digital company. And we are well-positioned to serve them," Nadella said.

Revenue from Microsoft's Office 365 cloud service increased eight per cent in the quarter, while the Surface device brand also performed strongly, seeing 38 per cent revenue growth.

However the good news wasn't quite universal for the firm, with revenue from the Xbox dropping, although even this dark cloud came with some silver lining, as the number of people using the device to play online rose to 47 million from 39 million last year. If Microsoft can work out how to better monetise this growing audience, then this revenue line could also soon see growth.