By Aaron Tilley

Microsoft Corp. said continued strength in its cloud-computing business helped deliver strong first-quarter earnings growth.

The technology giant on Wednesday reported earnings of $1.38 a share compared with $1.14 in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected per-share earnings of $1.24. Revenue rose 13.6% to $33.06 billion, beating analysts projections.

The Redmond, Wash., company has enjoyed a strong period of higher earnings, in part because of Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella's bet on cloud computing, a model where customers rent computing power instead of buying their own machines.

Revenue for Microsoft's commercial-cloud operations, which include Azure computing services, Office 365 tools and other cloud services, increased 36% to a record $11.6 billion.

Microsoft reported sales for its three main product areas in the quarter ahead of its guidance.

Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood called it a strong start to the fiscal year.

Microsoft shares were 0.38% lower in after-hours trading.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 23, 2019 16:55 ET (20:55 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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