Dive Brief:
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Microsoft's share price set an all-time high last week after the company reported strong fourth-quarter results, according to Recode. But, reports MarketWatch, tax benefits contributed to part of the gains.
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Microsoft lost money in the smartphone arena which led to a nearly $2 million tax writedown. Microsoft's market capitalization is currently around $570 billion. Microsoft has been a public company since 1986, and its stock price just hit an all-time high.
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Microsoft's commercial cloud annualized run rate is now at $18.9 billion and Azure cloud revenue increased 97% year over year per its annual results, according to CNBC.
Dive Insight:
Microsoft certainly deserves credit for not only surviving, but thriving, in the new tech landscape that has left several of its peers — including Cisco, IBM and Intel – struggling.
Where Microsoft stumbled was with its Windows phones. Credit a quick pivot for more recent success.
Though analysts predicted trouble for the software giant when the tech environment first began to shift, the company managed to adapt quickly and get back on course, changing its business model to evolve from desktop PCs and software sold in a box to mobile computers, cloud and subscription-based services.
Though Microsoft didn’t move on cloud as quickly as Amazon Web Services, it wasn’t too far behind. While Microsoft Azure grew 93% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2017, Amazon Web Services (AWS) grew 43% during the same period.
