Revenues beat forecasts

Microsoft (MSFT) shares rose to a new all-time high on the back of the publication of higher revenue cloud services Azure and the forecast for the December quarter above market estimates. The company is justifying investors' optimism despite temporary problems with components for Surface laptops and Xbox gaming consoles.

Microsoft (MSFT) on Tuesday after the close of trading reported its results for Q1 of fiscal 2022, which ended Sept. 30.

Microsoft stock is at an all-time high today (the non-trading price reached $317.47 per share).

Microsoft stock is up 39.4% since the start of 2021 and up 2.4% in Tuesday's post-market.

Microsoft's revenue and earnings vs. guidance

Earnings per share (EPS) for Q1 Fin. 2022 rose 25% to $2.27, above market analysts' average forecasts of $2.07.

Quarterly earnings topped $20 billion for the first time at $20.5 billion, beating the previous earnings record by more than $4 billion.

Total revenue rose 22% to $45.32 billion, also above forecasts of $43.97 billion.

Selling Microsoft's core Intelligent Cloud district (including selling cloud services like Azure, as well as on-premises servers) has increased from $12.9 bln to $16.6 bln over the same period last year,exceeding analysts' expectations of $16.7 bln.

Sales of Microsoft's PC, Windows, gaming products and search advertising division rose to $13.3 billion from $11.85 billion a year ago, despite reports of slowing PC shipments. The division, which includes Dynamics, LinkedIn and Office, brought in revenue of $15.04 billion, up 22% from Wall Street's forecast of $14.67 billion.

The company warned that supply chain problems will continue to affect sales of Surface laptops and Xbox gaming consoles.

Microsoft stock buybacks and dividends

Microsoft said it returned $10.9 billion to shareholders. of which $6.2 billion in stock buybacks and $4.7 billion in dividends for the past quarter, up 14% from a year earlier. Microsoft Forecasts. Microsoft's fiscal 2022 Q2 revenue forecast also pleased investors, with the company expecting strong sales over the holiday period from October through December.

The revenue forecast is $50.15 billion to $51.05 billion, above analysts' average forecast of $48.97 billion.