The restrictions and confinements due to the covid-19 pandemic have allowed Microsoft to skyrocket its profits in 2020. The computer giant from Redmond (USA) obtained a net profit of 29,356 million dollars (24,152 million euros) in the first six months of its fiscal year (July-December), which represents an increase of 31.5% compared to the first semester of its fiscal year 2019, according to the multinational reported late on Tuesday.
The results have exceeded investors' expectations and the company's shares have risen after the announcement 5% off-market, after having gained about 41% in 2020.
Microsoft's gold mine was its Azure cloud services application, whose business grew 50%.
Also highlighted during these months LinkedIn, the social network focused on the world of work, and the company's video game division, which launched a video game console in November taking advantage of the Christmas pull.
GamePass, the company's monthly video game subscription, now has 18 million users, up from 15 million in September, while the online gaming service Xbox Live has more than 100 million monthly active users.
Microsoft's revenues totaled 80,230 million dollars (66,009 million euros) in the semester, 14.7% more than a year before, including a 12% growth in the productivity area, to 25,672 million dollars (21,119 million of euros);
an increase of 21.4% of the business in the cloud (which includes Azure), up to 27,587 million dollars (22,694 million euros);
and an increase of 10.8% in sales of personal computing, which includes Windows, Bing or the Xbox console, to 26,971 million dollars (22,187 million euros).
While tech companies were already expected to emerge stronger in 2020, Microsoft has performed even better than expected, Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, told Reuters.
"Microsoft's earnings were magnificent, even compared to strong market expectations."
"The shares of these technology companies have been a bit in the doldrums since August, but they are likely to lead the market again, given their strong outlook," he added.
Microsoft's profit grew even more in the latter part of the year.
Between October and December 2020, it registered a net profit of 15,463 million dollars (12,722 million euros), 32.7% above that recorded in the same period of 2019, while the multinational's income totaled 43,076 million dollars (35,440 million euros), 16.7% more.
"What we have witnessed over the past year is the dawn of a second wave of digital transformation that is sweeping across businesses and across all industries," said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft.
Looking ahead to the third quarter of its fiscal year (January-March 2021), Microsoft intends to once again exceed expectations and achieve revenues of $ 14.83 billion (12.23 billion euros) in its cloud business compared to 14.12 billion in dollars (11,645 million euros) that market analysts predict.
It also expects to beat expectations in its productivity and personal computing segments.
