Microsoft (MSFT, $288.49) tops fiscal Q2 earnings expectations, while Azure revenue growth slows down

Microsoft Corp. posted its fiscal second quarter  earnings on Tuesday that surpassed analysts’ expectations. However, the technology behemoth mentioned a modestly slowing growth rate in its key cloud unit Azure, leading to its shares falling  in extended-hours trading.

Microsoft's adjusted earnings for the three months ending December climbed +22.1% from the year-ago period  to $2.48 per share, well ahead of the Street consensus forecast of $2.31 per share.

Revenues increased +20% year-over-year to a record $51.7 billion for the quarter,  topping analysts' expectations of $50.89 billion .  

The company’s revenues from Azure, its cloud division, surged +46% year-over-year, slowing down a bit from the prior quarter’s +48%.

Productivity and business processes segment revenues rose +19% to $15.9 billion while Intelligent Cloud revenues grew +26% to $18.3 billion. More Personal Computing revenues climbed +15% to $17.4 billion.

Gaming revenues increased +8% while Xbox content and services revenue grew +10%.