Microsoft Quarterly Earnings: Profits Up 17 Percent, Revenues Up 16 Percent

Despite a down year for PC sales, Microsoft has once again posted better-than-expected quarterly results for the period ending September 30, 2013. The firm reported a profit of $5.2 billion on revenues of $18.5 billion. Those revenues were up 17 percent year-over-year.

"Our devices and services transformation is progressing, and we are launching a wide range of compelling products and experiences this fall for both business and consumers," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a prepared statement. "Our new commercial services will help us continue to outgrow the enterprise market, and we are seeing lots of consumer excitement for Xbox One, Surface 2, and Surface Pro 2, and the full spectrum of Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone devices."

Although Microsoft now reports its earnings a bit differently because of a major restructuring, it did provide some interesting highlights, though some are lacking in context. For example, Windows "OEM" sales—that is, sales of Windows via new PCs—fell 7 percent in the quarter, but Windows Pro revenue grew for the second consecutive quarter. And Surface revenue grew to $400 million with unit sales growth over the previous quarter. How many did the company sell, you ask? We don't know.

As is often the case, Microsoft's enterprise and business-related sales won the day. Commercial revenue grew 10 percent to $11.20 billion, the firm reported, and commercial cloud revenue grew 103 percent. SQL Server, Lync, SharePoint, and Exchange Server all experienced double-digit growth.

"We saw strong focus across our teams, generating record first-quarter revenue even as we navigate a fundamental business transition," Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said. "Our enterprise renewals were very healthy, and our devices and consumer business continued to improve. We are making strategic investments in areas like technological innovation, supply chain management, and global cloud operations to build for the future and create long-term shareholder value."

You can read more about these quarterly earnings in "Short Takes: October 25, 2013 (Microsoft Earnings Special Edition)."