A reporter looks around a display of Microsoft China Center One during a media tour in Beijing April 14, 2015.
A reporter looks around a display of Microsoft China Center One during a media tour in Beijing April 14, 2015. The center which has various displays showcases Microsoft inspired innovation in China, the company said. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) has released its Q3 fiscal 2015 earnings, showing it has surpassed Wall Street’s expectations on Thursday. The tech giant posted a strong growth with US$4.98 billion [$6.38 billion] in net income on US$21.7 billion [$27.7 billion] in revenue for the quarter ending March 31.

Shares were up 3.1 percent to US$44.7, topping Wall Street estimates for the quarter. It increased 6 percent from last year’s earnings, but it dropped 12 percent in net income. It amassed USD$14.6 billion for gross margin, US$6.6 billion for operating income and $0.61 per share for diluted earnings per share, or EPS.

“We remain focused on strong execution from our sales team. Around the world we’re seeing high interest in deployment of our cloud and server products, as well as participation in the enterprise early adopter program for Windows 10,” chief operating officer Kevin Turner said in Microsoft’s quarterly report.

The company returned US$7.5 billion to its shareholders in share repurchases and dividends. It admitted, though, that its financial results include the US$190 million of integration and restructuring expenses, or US$0.01 per share negative impact, from its business deal with Nokia phones.

Its Devices and Consumer revenue is up 8 percent to US$9 billion, and which includes revenue of US41.4 billion for 8.6 million Nokia Lumia units sold, 30 percent increase of Xbox Live usage, U.S. market share at 201 percent, and surface revenue of US$713 million. The last figure is up 44 percent, thanks to Surface Pro 3 sales.

Commercial revenue is also up by 5 percent to US$12.8 billion. Commercial cloud computing helped the sales with 106 percent increase, soared by sales of Office 365, Azure and Dynamics CRM Online. Commercial revenue also includes server products and services revenue boost of 12 percent, as well as the decline of Windows volume licensing and Office Commercial products and services each by 2 percent.

Read the entire earnings report here.

“We executed with strong operational and financial discipline again this quarter, and are seeing positive impact from our investments in key growth areas,” Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said. “We remain focused on maximising shareholder value and again increased our overall return of capital to shareholders.”