MSFT Microsoft posted a solid Q3 FY25 (March quarter) performance, with revenue climbing 13% year-over-year to $70.1 billion, beating estimates by $1.6 billion. Earnings per share rose 18% to $3.46, topping expectations by $0.24. Growth was strong across the board, but Azure stood out—its revenue jumped 35% in constant currency, up from 31% last quarter. AI contributed 16 percentage points to Azure's growth, up from 13% previously. Microsoft Cloud revenue increased 20% year-over-year to $42.4 billion, slightly ahead of estimates by $200 million. Capital expenditures totaled $21.4 billion, slightly down from the previous quarter as infrastructure expansion slowed following the rollout of 10 new data centers.
GOLD CHINA SAYS IT’S EVALUATING THE POSSIBILITY OF TRADE TALKS WITH THE U.S
China said it is evaluating U.S. overtures to initiate trade negotiations, potentially paving the way for the world’s two largest economies to start talks to resolve a trade war that has rumbled financial markets and cast a pall on global economic activity.
Senior U.S. officials have reached out recently “through relevant parties multiple times,” hoping to start negotiations with China on tariffs, a spokesperson for the commerce ministry said in a statement Friday.
While assessing the possibility of starting any negotiations, Chinese authorities reiterated Beijing’s request for the U.S. to remove all unilateral tariffs. Failure to do so would indicate “an outright lack of sincerity” from Washington and “further compromise mutual trust,” according to a CNBC translation.
“If the U.S. wants to talk, it should show its sincerity and be prepared to correct its wrong practices and cancel the unilateral tariffs,” according to the statement. SPXBTCUSDTNVDAMSFT