Microsoft beats quarterly revenue estimates, shares rise

(Reuters) – Microsoft Corp beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue on Tuesday, as the software company continued to benefit from a global shift to work and learning from home.

Microsoft’s shares rose 1% to $215.40 in extended trading.

The shift to work from home has accelerated adoption of cloud-based computing, benefiting companies such as Microsoft, Amazon.com Inc’s cloud unit and Alphabet Inc’s Google Cloud.

Microsoft said revenue in its “Intelligent Cloud” segment rose 20% to $13 billion in the first quarter, with 48% growth in Azure. Analysts had expected revenue of $12.7 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Revenue from its personal computing division, which includes Windows software and Xbox gaming consoles, rose 6% to $11.8 billion.

The company’s revenue rose 12% to $37.2 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 30, beating analysts’ estimates of $35.72 billion.

(Reporting by Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru, Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Jane Lee in Oakland, California; Editing by Maju Samuel)