Microsoft beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly revenue, galvanised by strong demand for the software giant's cloud-based services to meet the pandemic-driven shift to hybrid work models.
Individuals and organisations turned to products such as Outlook and the Teams workplace messaging app to communicate during the switch to working and learning from home, making the company a pandemic winner.
As economies reopen, businesses are increasingly shifting to a hybrid model of allowing staff to alternatively work from office and home.
This is resulting in a continued strength for Microsoft's cloud services, including its flagship cloud offering Azure.
The company reported revenue of US$49.4 billion in the third quarter, compared with US$41.7 billion a year earlier.
