Microsoft Q2 Earnings Takeaways: Cloud Revenue Hits $22.1B, Xbox Revenue Up 10% And More

Microsoft Corp MSFT reported second-quarter financial results after market close Tuesday. Here are the key details for investors.

What Happened: Microsoft's second-quarter revenue came in at $51.7 billion, up 20% year over year. The total came in ahead of a $50.9 billion estimate from analysts, according to Benzinga Pro.

The company reported earnings per share of $2.48, ahead of a consensus estimate of $2.31 per share.

Revenue for the Productivity and Business Processes segment was $15.9 billion, while LinkedIn revenue was up 37% year over year.

Intelligent Cloud segment revenue hit $18.3 billion in the quarter, up 26% year-over-year. More Personal Computing segment revenue was $17.5 billion.

Microsoft ended the quarter with 56.4 million Microsoft 365 Consumer subscribers.

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Why It’s Important: Microsoft’s cloud business continued to play an important role in the growth for the company. Microsoft Cloud revenue hit $22.1 billion in the quarter, up 32% year over year.

“Digital technology is the most malleable resource at the world’s disposal to overcome constraints and reimagine everyday work and life,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, adding that the company is continuing to innovate in growing markets.

Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said the cloud unit saw “strong bookings growth” in the quarter, which could help the company in the future.

Another area investors are likely watching is the Xbox gaming segment under More Personal Computing. Xbox revenue was up 10% year-over-year. Microsoft recently announced its largest acquisition to date with a deal to acquire video game company Activision Blizzard ATVI.

Microsoft did not share details of the acquisition in the quarterly earnings release.

MSFT Price Action: Shares are down 3.88% to $277.30 in after-hours trading Tuesday. (Editor's note: Shares later reversed course during the company's conference call. Click here to read why.)