Microsoft results beat expectations
Microsoft's fared better than analysts anticipated in its latest quarter, boosted by a surprising rise in sales of its Windows operating system for personal computers.
The fiscal third-quarter performance comes as investors look forward to the release of Windows 8 later this year.
The next version marks the most radical overhaul of the widely-used operating system in decades.
Microsoft earned 5.1 billion US dollars (£3.17bn) or 60 cents per share, during the three months ending in March.
That was down from net income of 5.2 billion US dollars (£3.23bn) or 61 cents per share, a year ago.
Revenue rose 6% from last year to 17.4 billion US dollars (£10.83bn).
Analysts had anticipated earnings of 58 cents per share on revenue of 17.2 billion US dollars, according to a FactSet survey.
"We're driving toward exciting launches across the entire company, while delivering strong financial results," said Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.