Microsoft’s ongoing push to get automakers, retailers and other businesses onto its cloud computing platform helped power the company’s third-quarter earnings ahead of Wall Street expectations Wednesday.
The software maker posted fiscal third-quarter earnings of $8.8 billion, up 19% from the same period last year. The Redmond, Washington-based company said it had profit of $1.14 per share, beating the $1 per share anticipated by analysts.
Microsoft also topped forecasts with $30.6 billion in reported revenue, a year-over-year increase of 14%. Eleven analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected $29.8 billion.
Amid a decline in its legacy Windows software business, much of Microsoft’s growth in recent years has come from selling its cloud services to other businesses and governments.
Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said in a statement Wednesday that revenue from the company’s “commercial cloud” segment grew 41 percent year-over-year to $9.6 billion.
ExxonMobil announced in February a deal to tap into Microsoft’s cloud platform and artificial intelligence to capitalize on the shale oil boom in Texas and New Mexico.
Boeing profits hit by 737 Max woes
The longer Boeing’s 737 Max plane sits idle, grounded indefinitely by regulators around the world after two deadly crashes, the more the company’s bottom line shrinks.
How much? Not even Boeing is ready to predict.
The aviation giant was uncharacteristically uncertain about its financial future Wednesday. While announcing its worst quarterly results in years, Boeing said that it would not provide its customary full-year sales and profit forecast.
“The timing of return to service for the Max will continue to be paced by ongoing work with global regulators and our customers,” Dennis A. Muilenburg, Boeing’s chief executive, said in a conference call with analysts.
As a result of the grounding, the company delivered roughly 50 fewer 737 aircraft than it originally planned this quarter, contributing to a decline of more than $1 billion in revenue for its commercial airplanes division.
Boeing is now “making decisions on a day-to-day basis” and trying to plan for contingencies, Greg Smith, the company’s chief financial officer, said during the call.
Puerto Rico head pledges more jobs
Puerto Rico’s governor pledged on Wednesday to lift the U.S. territory from a deep recession by creating more jobs, reversing a migration exodus and implementing a range of incentives as the island struggles to recover from Hurricane Maria.
During a nearly two-hour state of the commonwealth address that followed a brief power outage at the seaside Capitol, Gov. Ricardo Rossello also said he plans to hold a yes-or-no referendum on statehood. He also criticized President Donald Trump’s response to Maria, a Category 4 storm that hit September 2017 and caused more than an estimated $100 billion in damage.
“As Americans, Puerto Ricans deserve a swift recovery from Hurricane Maria. It’s been over a year after the catastrophic event. We are still waiting for the disbursement of most of the funds already allocated by Congress,” Rossello said briefly in English before resuming his address in Spanish.
The governor said his administration has faced several obstacles amid hurricane recovery efforts, including what he called unfair conditions imposed to obtain federal funds and a hostile attitude from some federal officials.
“I reiterate to President Trump that he is discriminating against 3 million U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico,” the governor said.