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- Droughts drive Spanish boom in pistachio farming
- Tokyo recovers some losses to lead Asian markets higher
- Rural schools empty in North Macedonia due to exodus
- US dockworkers launch strike after labor contract expires
- Thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan
- Kenya airport whistleblower fears for his life
- Sheinbaum to take office as Mexico's first woman president
- Scientists fear underfunded Argentina research on verge of collapse
- US port officials gird for strike despite last-minute bargaining
- With 118 dead from Hurricane Helene, Biden defends US government response
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- Qatar Airways seeking 25% stake in Virgin Australia
- US port officials gird for strike as labor talks stay stuck
- As toll crosses 100, Trump puts Hurricane Helene at election center stage
- US Fed Chair sees 'further disinflation' in economy
- Epic Games sues Google and Samsung over app store
- Officials see no shortages from likely US port strike
- UK families of Gaza hostages warn Lebanon attack 'takes focus away'
- Shares in Stellantis, Aston Martin skid on profit warnings
- Dali prints found in London garage sold at auction
- ECB chief backs bank mergers amid UniCredit, Commerzbank talk
- China stocks soar on stimulus, but US and Europe retreat
- 100 dead in storm Helene damage, flooding across US southeast
- China stocks soar on stimulus, Europe slides on automaker woes
- German antitrust watchdog steps up monitoring of Microsoft
- Nepal's urban poor count cost of 'nightmare' floods
- E.Guinea, Gabon clash at ICJ over oil-rich islands
- New blow for UK's Starmer as growth data disappoints
- China's top banks to tweak mortgage rates to boost housing market
- Muslim women break taboos navigating east London's waterways
- Nepal dam-building spree powers electric vehicle boom
- More than 60 dead from storm Helene as rescue, cleanup efforts grow
- Dozens missing, 9 dead in migrant boat wreck off Spanish Canaries
- Death toll from Hurricane John hits eight in Mexico
- Storm Helene's toll rises as rescue and cleanup efforts gain pace
- SpaceX launches mission to return stranded astronauts
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- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
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- Argentina judge orders dictionary to delete pejorative definition of 'Jewish'
- Global stocks rise on rate hopes, Beijing stimulus
Cloud computing helps power strong Microsoft quarter
Microsoft on Tuesday reported strong quarterly earnings, powered by demand for cloud computing.
The tech titan said it made a profit of $16.7 billion on revenue of $49.4 billion in the first three months of this year, eight percent and 18 percent, respectively, more than in the period a year earlier.
"Going forward, digital technology will be the key input that powers the world's economic output," said Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella.
"Across the tech stack, we are expanding our opportunity and taking share as we help customers differentiate, build resilience, and do more with less."
Microsoft shares rose more than four percent to $282.44 on the earnings figures, which came with an optimistic outlook for the current financial quarter.
Revenue in the company's "intelligent cloud" unit that meshes datacenter-hosted software with artificial intelligence surged from the same period a year earlier, Microsoft reported.
"Continued customer commitment to our cloud platform and strong sales execution drove better-than-expected commercial bookings growth" along with cloud computing revenue, Microsoft chief financial officer Amy Hood said in the earnings release.
The pandemic accelerated a shift to relying on the internet for work, education, shopping, socializing and entertainment, with Microsoft seemingly positioned to benefit from lifestyle changes that will remain even as people return to being out and about.
A business and productivity unit at Microsoft that includes its online suite of Office 365 software saw revenue grow with the help of a 34 percent increase in money taken in by career-focused online social network LinkedIn, the earnings report showed.
"Growth for LinkedIn was the most surprising," CFRA equity research vice president John Freeman told AFP.
"LinkedIn continued to be Microsoft's lower profile success story. That acquisition is looking better and better every year and every quarter."
Microsoft bought LinkedIn for slightly more than $26 billion in 2016.
Money taken in for content and services at Microsoft's Xbox video game division rose four percent in the recently ended quarter as the company works to beef up its cloud-based games subscription offering.
Microsoft is seeking regulatory approval for its $69 billion deal to buy video game powerhouse Activision Blizzard.
Merging with troubled Activision will make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony, it said, a major shift in the booming world of games.
Activision, the California-based maker of "Candy Crush," has been hit by employee protests, departures, and a state lawsuit alleging it enabled toxic workplace conditions and sexual harassment.
"Acquiring Activision will help jump start Microsoft's broader gaming endeavors and ultimately its move into the metaverse with gaming the first monetization piece of the metaverse in our opinion," Wedbush analysts said after the news broke.
P.Schmidt--CPN