On Tuesday night Microsoft reported earnings that smashed expectations. Revenue for the quarter grew by 17% and earnings per share were higher by 34%. Not bad for a company with a market cap of $1.8 trillion. These large numbers boggle the mind.
How can such a large company keep on growing? Looking back over the last year, what were some of the main themes? Here are the things that pop into my mind: Work from home (PC and MS Office); video calling (MS Teams); corporate digitisation (Azure); isolation (Gaming and Xbox). As you can see, Microsoft had a product supporting each of the major changes for 2020. That's how a $1.8 trillion company can continue to grow.
With growth of 47%, off of an already large base, Wall Street is most excited about the Azure division. The new Xbox pushed gaming revenue higher by 86%! Covid has changed the world forever, meaning technology companies are even more relevant today.
Here is what the FT had to say about the results - Microsoft shares hit record on work-from-home revenue boost