Microsoft shares have jumped 8.3 per cent in late trading as the company’s cloud-computing services and its leap into artificial intelligence saw quarterly profits and sales beat Wall Street projections.

Microsoft announced profits of A$3.69 a share for the March quarter, compared to estimations of a A$3.38 profit per share.

Sales jumped 7.1 per cent, to A$79.76 billion, despite analysts predicting a slump due to the company’s previous reliance on strong PC sales.

Revenue for the company’s Azue cloud-computing business climbed 31 per cent, with sales from commercial cloud products like Azure and Office rose 22 per cent to A$43 billion.

Microsoft Teams app is seen on the smartphone placed on the keyboard in this illustration taken, July 26, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/

Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood credited Azure renewals, as well as customers adding new products to their suite, fuelled by interest in its OpenAI-infused products.

Azure demand was fueled by deal renewals and, in an improvement from the previous quarter, Microsoft was better able to convince customers to add new products to their contracts when they re-signed, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said in an interview. That included security software and Teams conferencing software, she said.

Microsoft’s More Personal Computing unit, which includes its PC gaming division and Windows 11 commercial sales, posted A$20.05 billion in sales; down 9 per cent year-on-year, but well above Wall Street’s A$18.39 billion estimates.

“This environment continues to be dynamic,” Hood said.

“We remain focused on controlling what we can control with strong executive and continue to invest for the long term.”

The company is also awaiting finalisation of its A$100 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which will no doubt bolster this sector in the near future.