Microsoft's cloud business helps offset pandemic woes

 Ongoing demand for Microsoft's cloud computing services help softened the blow of the coronavirus pandemic on the software giant's other products during the first three months of the year.

The company on Wednesday reported fiscal third-quarter profit of $10.75 billion, up 22% from the same period last year. Net income of $1.40 per share beat Wall Street expectations of $1.27 a share.

The software maker posted revenue of $35.02 billion in the January-March period, up 15% from last year. Analysts had been looking for revenue of $33.8 billion, according to FactSet.

Microsoft warned investors in late February that it was likely to take a significant revenue hit because of the virus outbreak in China. At the time, supply chain problems were affecting its Windows licensing business and Microsoft-made Surface devices.

The Redmond, Washington, company on Wednesday, however, said that its revenue still ended up in the range of its original forecast because of a quick improvement in supply chains combined with increased demand for PCs by workers forced by the pandemic to work from home.

The pandemic also cut into Microsoft's advertising revenue for its LinkedIn jobs network and Bing search engine. But the company said it increased demand for other Microsoft services, including Xbox games and its workplace videoconferencing service known as Teams.

Synovus analyst Dan Morgan said the employee-communications service accounts for a fraction of Microsoft's revenue but is part of its broader subscription strategy to get customers hooked on its suite of workplace software.

Microsoft said earlier in April it was “temporarily pausing recruitment” in some roles because of uncertainty around the pandemic, but still seeking talent in other disciplines. It didn't specific which ones.