THE NEWS WRAP: Microsoft third quarter earnings beat analyst expectations

Microsoft has announced its third quarter financial year results, with revenues growing to $US21.7 billion and earnings per share of $0.61.

That beat analysts’ expectations of earnings of $0.51 per share and revenue of $US21.06 billion, TechCrunch reports.

Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella says the company saw incredible growth across its cloud services in the quarter.

The tech giant’s commercial cloud revenue grew 106% driven by Office 365, Azure, and Dynamics CRM Online.

“Next week at Build we’re excited to share more about how we’re empowering every individual and organization on the planet to achieve more with the next generation of our platforms,” he says.

Tech giants release results

It’s that time of the year, with a number of tech giants releasing their results for the quarter. Google missed estimates with $US17.26 billion in revenue, and blamed the rising US dollar and slowing growth.

Amazon revenue grew 15% year-on-year to $US22.72 billion, but the company posted a net loss of $US57 million.  You can find Facebook’s results here and Pandora’s here.

Apple Watch must have apps

Apple has released a list of must-have apps for its Apple Watch, which will launch in Australia today.

The company’s picks, obtained by BuzzFeed News, include the likes of Twitter, the New York Times, Yelp, and Instagram.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 20.42 to 18,058.69. The Australian Dollar is currently trading at US78 cents.

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